Interior ministers from five European Union countries have agreed a new scheme to distribute migrants rescued on the Mediterranean in a deal aimed at relieving the pressure on southern EU states.

The plan agreed in Malta on Monday will be presented to all 28 EU nations on October 8, with officials anxious to sign up as many states as possible and resolve one of the most contentious issues the bloc has faced in recent years.

"We have started to make history but it all depends on the support of all or most of the other EU countries in accepting to participate in the disembarkation and distribution of migrants," said Malta's Interior Minister Michael Farrugia.

Farrugia was joined at Monday's meeting by his counterparts from Italy, France, Germany and Finland, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Details of the accord were not given but Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said the idea was for rescued migrants to be sent to various EU states within four weeks of being brought ashore.

Those countries would then handle their asylum requests, welcoming them in if they met the requirements and organising their repatriation if they did not.