The Commission will define a redistribution key based on criteria such as GDP, size of population, unemployment rate, and past numbers of asylum seekers and resettled refugees from third countries.
Aside from introducing quotas, the Agenda envisages fighting against traffickers and tripling the capacity and the budget for the Frontex joint-operations Triton and Poseidon in 2015 and 2016.
The EU's 2015 budget was amended today to set aside the necessary funds.
Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "The tragic loss of life in the Mediterranean has shocked all Europeans. Our citizens expect Member States and European institutions to act to prevent this tragedy from continuing unabated... That is why the Commission today proposes an agenda which reflects our common values and provides an answer to our citizens' worries about unacceptable human suffering on the one hand and inadequate application of our agreed common asylum rules on the other hand. The measures we propose will help manage migration better and thus respond to the justified expectations of citizens."