The European Union forged ahead Wednesday with a plan to ease pressure on nations dealing with an influx of Mediterranean migrants by requiring other countries to share the burden, despite some strong opposition.

The proposed system would set maximum refugee limits for each country in the EU based on population, employment levels and other factors. The exact details have not been hashed out, but the general idea is that once a country reaches its maximum, migrants seeking asylum there could be sent to other countries, which would have to take them in.

"It is not acceptable for people around the EU to say, 'Yes, stop people dying in the Mediterranean,' and at the same time remain silent when the question is raised, 'What should happen to these people?'" European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said.

Countries including Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia have already rejected the plan, meaning it is unlikely to pass without major caveats and concessions.

But the EU's executive commission sees it as key to forcing the 28 European Union countries to show solidarity with Italy, Greece and Malta, which have been overwhelmed this year by migrants fleeing war and poverty in places like Syria and Eritrea who arrive on their shores after dangerous trips across the Mediterranean.

British interior minister Theresa May said her country would not take part in a quota system as it would only encourage more people to risk their lives. Britain, Ireland and Denmark would be exempt anyway under special agreements.

Separately from the quota scheme, the commission will also recommend at the end of May that 20,000 people who are eligible for asylum be allowed to enter the EU and be distributed among member countries.

That resettlement proposal is part of a broader migration agenda made public by the commission Wednesday laying out a calendar for new action and proposals for mobilizing funds, resources and EU border, police and asylum agencies.

In two weeks, the commission expects to propose a "temporary distribution mechanism" to more equitably distribute refugees among EU countries in times of extraordinary migration movements. That mechanism would evolve and, by the end of the year, form the basis of the EU's quota plan, which is supported by officials in Italy and Malta.

Germany, along with Sweden and France, has taken in the most refugees from Syria — including many accepted willingly from camps outside Europe — and a top immigration official in Berlin expressed regret that some EU nations are opposed to the quota scheme.

Roberta Metsola, Nationalist MEP and a leading member of the European Parliament on migration had positive words about the agreement.

"We have called for a fair system of distribution of beneficiaries of international protection, once a certain threshold has been reached, from those member states under the most pressure, and as the commission has recognized this should happen sooner rather than later," she said.

But whether this will work out, it is another matter.