Up to 10 European Union and three non-EU states have taken part in the talks, aimed at establishing a gradual and controlled movement of people through the migration route.
Leaders have also announced plans for EU patrols at Greece's borders and for sending 400 extra guards to Slovenia.
Wrapping up the emergency summit in Brussels, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has called on countries not to close their borders to migrants and refugees.
Mr Juncker says cooperation between European Union members is vital in response to the crisis.
"Closing burders is not a long-term solution. The solution is to act as Europe, to act responsibly, and we need to combine our tools -- our political, legislative, financial and operational tools. Europe isn't going to be built when we act against each other. We have to work together."
EU members Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia were among those attending the Brussels summit.
Non-members Macedonia and Serbia are known to have attended.
Turkey was not invited, but German chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists ahead of the summit the crisis could not be solved without Turkey.
"This is no normal European Council meeting. You can see this in the fact that 10 member states are here today and three countries who are not EU members. This means that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."
Slovenia's Prime Minister, Miro Cerar, says the European Union risks falling apart if it cannot work together on the crisis.
"Europe is at stake now, and, if we don't do all we can together to find a common solution and to deliver it, then this is the beginning of the end of the EU and Europe as such."
People are continuing to travel through the western Balkans and west into Slovenia after Hungary closed its borders.
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says his country is ready to take its share of refugees, even though it is not in the European Union.
"And we are ready to take our part, and we are ready to take that kind of a burden on our shoulders, but we need to see what would be a comprehensive solution. What would be an end to the crisis? Are we going to protect EU borders? Are we going to deal with this stuff separately or not? There are a lot of questions and a lot of issues in front of us today."
Nearly 250,000 migrants have passed through the Balkans since mid-September, and neither cold weather nor the colder waters off Greece is deterring more.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn says more than 20 million refugees are presently in Europe.
He says high numbers are expected to continue to come as increased military action in Syria pushes more people from their homes.
"We're at the beginning of the bad season. Wintertime, we have to provide shelters. The European Union is ready to provide additional financial resources, also equipment, but this has to be, I have to say, based on needs assessment, on serious needs assessment."
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