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West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge said the suggestion of a team comprising EU members was the subject of "serious" debate behind closed doors in Brussels and Strasbourg. The UKIP MEP said Brussels chiefs would like like an EU team enter the 2036 Games, the 100th anniversary of the Berlin tournament, which was opened by Adolf Hitler. Mr Etheridge said the move was out the latest attempt by EU leaders to “destroy national identity”.

GETTY The EU could launch an Olympic team

And he claimed it was partly driven by envy of Great Britain’s success in Rio and London. He said: “There have been quite a lot of conversations about it among other MEPs and it was being taken quite seriously by some of them. "They were using the word solidarity, which tends to be code for ever closer union.

GETTY EU chiefs are said to be envious of Team GB success

“It speaks to their plan to create a united states of Europe. "I'm almost certain there was some jealousy at Britain's success in 2012 and 2016 and they want a piece of our success. "It's a crazy EU effort to destroy national identity.”

GETTY Jean-Claude Juncker wants a tighter union

The secret discussions have only been held informally so far and no official approach has been made to tournament organisers, The Telegraph reported. Team GB finished the 2016 Rio Games second in the medal table behind the US, having won 27 golds. Germany came fifth with 17, France seventh with 10 and Italy ninth with eight golds. British success followed the 2012 Games where 29 gold medals were won on home soil, the highest of any European nation. News of trying to bring the bloc’s members together for the world’s biggest sporting event comes at the end of a year where key Brussels figures have launched plans for a much tighter union. European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker and French leader Emmanuel Macron have led the charge, with proposals for a joint budget and EU army.