Malta may end up coming out with “nothing except words and promises” on irregular migration – a senior EU diplomat in Brussels told Times of Malta.

Although Malta, together with other Mediterranean states, went to Brussels with high hopes – even talking tough prior to the meeting – disagreement seems to continue to dominate the talks with the countries with the most political clout getting the upper hand.

A draft of the council conclusions, seen by Times of Malta, only reiterates the need for more cooperation with the countries in transit such as Libya and the need to reinforce Frontex. It also agrees to discuss the subject further at next December’s council, while more concrete ideas will be discussed in June 2014.

The following is the latest paragraph discussed this morning in Brussels during a session on migration:

"(The Council) agrees that more should be done to avoid this (deaths in the Med) from happening again. It welcomes the agreement of the Council on a Task Force with the European Commission to identify, in the short term, concrete actions to ensure more efficient use of existing policies and tools, in particular as regards cooperation with countries of origin and transit, FRONTEX activities and the fight against trafficking and smuggling.

"The European Council invites the Council to follow up on the outcome of the work in December. The European Council will revert to asylum and migration in June 2014, when strategic guidelines for further legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice will be defined."

Malta, Italy and Greece are insisting the conclusions should include more “concrete actions”.

So far, it seems unlikely that their demands would accepted by the majority of states.

The summit is expected to come to an end this afternoon with an agreement on the conclusions.