Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso have agreed talk further on the issue of refugees, after a phone call between the pair.
A spokesperson for Mr Rudd's office said the two spoke on August 2, where the issue of international co-operation on the management of refugees was canvassed.
The pair "agreed to further exchanges on the issue", she said in a statement.
It was revealed on Friday the government's hardline policy to send boat people to Papua New Guinea for processing would cost $1.1 billion over four years.
Under the plan to combat people smuggling, asylum seekers who arrive by boat would have no chance of resettlement in Australia.
The prime minister and Mr Barroso also agreed on the importance of the G20 as "the world's premier international economic forum".
Whether Mr Rudd will attend the upcoming G20 leaders summit has been a source of speculation with the St Petersburg meeting being held just days before the predicted September 7 election.
Australia will host the summit in 2014, in Mr Rudd's home town of Brisbane.
