Austria plans to cut benefits for immigrants, including refugees, who do not speak German in a controversial move that puts the country in conflict with the EU.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz intends to cap refugees' benefits receive at €563 (£492) a month. They will only be able to claim the amount given to Austrians – €863 – if they successfully pass a German test, he said.

In addition, immigrants will also be barred from claiming benefits for five years.

“The fundamental rule we will introduce is that German will become the key to accessing the full minimum benefit,” Mr Kurz said on Monday.

“That means that whoever has insufficient language skills will not be able to claim the full minimum benefit."

Mr Kurz’s conservative People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party won last year’s election in Austria by taking a hard line on immigration.

Austria took in one of the biggest shares of asylum seekers in Europe during the height of the migration crisis in 2015 and Mr Kurz pledged to prevent it happening again. The benefit cuts for new arrivals are expected to act as a deterrent.

Austria may face legal challenges and opposition from the rest of the EU, which requires that all member states’ citizens be treated equally.