The foreign ministers of France and Germany have proposed creating a “European superstate” limiting the powers of individual members following Britain’s referendum decision to leave the EU, Polish public broadcaster TVP Info has reported.

The document in which the proposals appear is to be presented to Visegrad Group countries meeting in Prague on Monday by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, TVP Info said, adding that the document was an "ultimatum".

TVP Info said the proposals would mean members of a superstate would in practice have no right to their own army, to a separate criminal code or a separate tax system, and would not have their own currency.

In addition, TVP Info said, member states would lose control over their own borders and procedures for admitting and relocating refugees.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told TVP Info: "This is not a good solution, of course, because from the time the EU was invented... a lot has changed.

“The mood in European societies is different. Europe and our voters do not want to give the Union over into the hands of technocrats.

“Therefore, I want to talk about this (in Prague) -- whether this really is the right recipe today in the context of a Brexit."

Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German foreign ministry, said: "Berlin does not want superstate, it wants a better Europe."

Meanwhile, Waszczykowski said later on Monday that the document by Germany and France was drawn up before the Brexit decision. He said it included "old ideas" and "does not take into account what happened during the... referendum." (pk)

Source: PAP