Louis Michel told reporters after meeting in Damascus with President Bashar al-Assad that they had discussed "humanitarian aid for Iraqi refugees" in Syria, whom he numbered at between 1.2 million and 1.5 million.

"We spoke about the economic, social and even political effects that this massive influx of refugees could have on the internal situation" in Syria, Michel said.

He had "proposed meetings at a technical level between the Syrian and Iraqi authorities and the European Commission" so that Europe "can bring all of its expertise so as to reinforce the absorption capacity" of countries hosting refugees from Iraq. Michel said the EU had "the ability to put to work the financial means at its disposal" to help refugees, and added that he may visit Iraq in July to prepare for the proposed talks.

Before leaving for his week-long tour to the region, launched in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Michel called the Iraqi humanitarian issue one of Europe's main concerns.

"The massive displacement of population resulting from the conflict needs to be addressed urgently," he said.

"Host communities, who are already dealing with large numbers of Palestinian refugees, need to receive more support. Our operational partners are already achieving a lot, but steps also need to be taken at a political level."

Europe recently allocated 10.2 million euros (13.9 million dollars) in relief aid for victims of the Iraq crisis.

After the two-day visit to Syria, Michel's regional tour will take him next to Jordan, which also hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the carnage in neighbouring Iraq.