The European Commission will not be making a formal proposal at Monday’s meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Luxembourg to trigger the solidarity mechanism obliging member states to share the burden of hosting migrants from Libya.

A Commission spokesman said the situation would be discussed with ministers during the meeting but no formal proposal would be tabled.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström last week had already ruled out this possibility, saying “there weren’t the necessary numbers” to trigger the Temporary Protection Directive, put in place in 2001 but never activated.

Ms Malmström said she had not been convinced there was need to change her stance against a formal proposal.

Ms Malmström reiterated that “there are perhaps over 2,000 refugees from Libya; 800 in Malta; which is a lot for a tiny island, but not enough to trigger this mechanism.”

“There are also other ways member states can show their solidarity with Malta. For instance, contributing in the resettlement programme. We had that pilot project in Malta and it worked well,” she said.

The pilot project was put in place in 2008 by the Commission on a voluntary basis. Fewer than 300 were resettled by the 26 member states in three years.

She added that the issue of migration in the Mediterranean was becoming “too emotional” and warned Italy and Malta not to play a “blame game” over the recent capsizing of a boat full of migrants close to Lampedusa.

“It is absolutely horrible. You’d have to be made of stone not to be touched by this. Also, the fact that there are people taking advantage of this, selling tickets for these overcrowded boats, with no life vests on board...”

The Commission steered clear of the fresh spat between Italy and Malta on the interpretation of international maritime rules governing search and rescue activities.

While encouraging Italy and Malta to cooperate, the Commission spokesman did not want to enter into the controversy between the two member states.

“This is a matter of interpretation of international maritime rules which should be solved amicably between the two countries. The Commission has no intention to enter into this controversy as it is not in its competence,” the spokesman said.

To help southern member states in their endeavour to save the lives of migrants escaping the conflict in Libya, the Commission allocated an additional €30 million to Frontex to help Malta and Italy perform their humanitarian and search and rescue missions.

The Commission also said it would be intensifying contacts with the countries involved to see how best it could offer more assistance.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced he would be visiting Malta for talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Wednesday.

His office insisted that, although the migration issue would be on the agenda, the meeting had been scheduled long ago.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees yesterday called on all countries to uphold the principles of rescue-at-sea and burden sharing in light of the tragedy that unfolded off Lampedusa on Wednesday in which about 250 migrants are believed to have died after their boat capsized.

The UNHCR called on the EU to urgently put in place a more reliable and effective mechanism for rescue-at-sea after what it described as the worst incident in the Mediterranean in recent years.

“It is hard to comprehend that at a time when tens of thousands are fleeing the Libyan conflict and pouring across the land borders into Tunisia and Egypt, where they enjoy safety and receive shelter and aid, the protection of people fleeing via Libya’s maritime border does not appear to have the same priority,” Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller said.

UNHCR said it was particularly concerned about refugees and asylum seekers in Misurata and other Libyan towns.

“As the situation in Libya deteriorates, many may have to consider flight by sea as their only option... A long-standing tradition of saving lives at sea may be at risk if it becomes an issue of contention between states as to who rescues whom,” the UNHCR said in clear reference to the diplomatic haggling between Malta and Italy over the respective competences in rescue operations.

The UNHCR acknowledged that Malta and Italy had borne the brunt of the displacement and migration prompted by events in Northern Africa and called for “active consideration of concrete responsibility and burden sharing measures particularly among EU member countries”.