The Seville summit retreated from a threat to impose aid sanctions on countries that fail to help the EU to tackle illegal immigration, reports Denis Staunton, from Seville.
But leaders agreed that they could take economic action against unco-operative countries if all 15 member states voted unanimously to do so.
Amnesty International welcomed the climbdown, which followed France and Sweden's refusal to back the hard line championed by Spain, Britain and Germany. Mr Dick Oosting, director of Amnesty International's EU Office, said it was now time to restore human rights to the heart of the EU's immigration policy.
"The threat of sanctions highlighted how distorted the EU's policies were becoming. The war against 'illegal immigration' had clearly become overheated to the point where almost everyone saw the EU going too far in its one-sided drive to keep people out and send them back at all cost," he said.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said that the leaders wanted to take effective action against illegal immigration and to improve co-operation with third countries. But the meeting concluded that it was better to help poor countries than to threaten them.
"If there is any difference in emphasis it's towards an understanding that we have to take into account the difficulties these countries have at home," he said.
The Spanish Prime Minister put a brave face on the retreat and insisted that the EU could take action against countries that fail to stop human trafficking or refuse to take back their citizens who enter the EU illegally. But the opposition by some member states to punishing poor countries means that such a step is extremely unlikely.
The leaders agreed to improve co-operation between border police and laid down a timetable for the agreement of common rules on asylum. Member states have been slow to harmonise rules and some countries have introduced measures to make life uncomfortable for asylum-seekers.
Mr Oosting said that Amnesty International was concerned that the fortification of Europe was putting human rights at risk.
"These are still very real concerns, and we maintain our call for a human rights impact assessment of all the decisions taken to combat 'illegal immigration'. But the sanctions debate has highlighted the fact that the root causes of asylum and migration should be much more central to the agenda."