"First of all, it is necessary to create a [legal] framework and then to implement everything in the coming weeks and months, especially in the framework of Valletta [Malta's capital, which will host the EU summit] and after that with the countries of [migrants'] origin, so that we can specify [the procedure] of the return [of migrants who are denied asylum in the EU]," Asselborn told reporters ahead the EU interior ministers talks in Luxembourg.
The European Union has been confronted with an enormous influx of migrants from the conflict-torn Middle Eastern and North African countries over the past few months.
According to the most recent estimates of EU border agency Frontex, some 630,000 migrants have arrived in the bloc since the beginning of 2015.
A so-called Valletta Summit on migration hosted by the European Council will take place in the Maltese capital November 11-12.
