Merkel and Macron
Merkel and MacronReuters

European leaders met for nine hours Thursday night, and this morning they reached an agreement on EU policy on illegal Muslim immigration.

The special summit was held in Brussels, at the end of which a declaration of 12 clauses was issued. The declaration included an agreement on the return of illegal immigrants to the countries from which they arrived, the establishment of accommodation centers for immigrants where countries will determine if they qualify for refugee status, and budgets for countries at the forefront of immigration.

It was unclear which countries would host the immigration centers.

The final communique stated that more effective control over the EU's external borders was needed , and stressed that illegal immigration was not only a challenge for one member state but a challenge for Europe as a whole.

The leaders said Europe was "determined to prevent" the arrival of migrants in an uncontrollable flow, and decided to step up efforts to stop infiltrators from Libya and Turkey and take legal and administrative measures against migrants who would cross countries.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced at the end of the summit that his country would decide later on whether to set up immigration centers after having previously threatened to veto the decision reached at the summit.

French President Emmanuel Macaron said: "We must succeed in dealing with this challenge while we remain loyal to our values."