Britain will not heed an EU call for member states to take in 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece, but may still have to take in 2,300 from non-EU countries.

In addition to proposals as to where the 40,000 will go, the European Commission today proposed 20,000 refugees from outside the 28-nation grouping would be shared around EU states.

The recommendation is that just over 11.5 per cent of that number, 2,309 people, would be resettled in Britain over the next two years.

Member states who participate in the scheme will be entitled to financial support, with the EU making €50million (£35.5million) available in 2015-16.

Refugees: Migrants sit on the floor outside the police station on the island of Kos, Greece. Britain has said it will not be accepting any of 16,000 people the EU wants relocated from the country

Far from home: A young migrant boy eats some bread in Kos. Countries will be paid €6,000 (£4,250) by the EU for every person relocated on their territory from Greece or Italy

The UK is not set to take any of the 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece as it is exempted from EU asylum policy unless it wants to take part.

And the Government has said it will not be taking any of the 20,000 refugees under the quota system either, exercising the same right to opt out.

A British Government spokesman said: 'We do not oppose resettlement in principle, but we believe such schemes are best decided at national level and have no plans to contribute to an EU quota.'

But it will face pressure from the Commission on the 2,300 non-EU migrants, shared out according to each EU country's population, economy and unemployment rate.

Germany has been allocated 3,086 migrants - 15.4 per cent of the total - and France 2,375.

The scheme is intended to meet calls by Italy and Greece for EU assistance to ease the pressure from migrants reaching their shores.

Crowded: Migrant children pile into a small room inside a former luxury hotel on the popular holiday resort of Kos

The two countries serve as the main gateway into Europe for migrants from North Africa, Asia and the Middle East, more than 600,000 of whom sought refuge in the EU last year.

More than 1,800 migrants, mostly from war-torn African and Middle Eastern countries, have died in the Mediterranean in 2015 - a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.

Some 60,000 people have already tried to make the perilous crossing this year, the UN estimates.

But a number of EU governments, many of them under pressure from anti-immigration parties at home, voiced opposition or strong reservations about the proposals to share out 24,000 asylum-seekers from Italy and 16,000 from Greece.

Countries would receive €6,000 (£4,250) for every person relocated on their territory under the latest proposal, the commission said.

But the strength of opposition could mean the proposals will not receive enough backing from EU governments to pass under the bloc's complex voting system.

'It does seem as if some member states were reluctant, but they have to accept that it is not about words, it is about action,' European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference.

Germany would take around 22 per cent of the migrants from Italy and Greece, or 8,700, while France would take 17 per cent, or some 6,700.

Migrants: Hundreds of men, women and children make their way to temporary shelter after arriving in Greece

There is opposition to the plan in central and eastern European states. 'Compulsory quotas and distribution of refugees regardless of their will are not a sustainable solution of the current migration crisis,' Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in a statement.

Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Rolandas Krisciunas told Reuters the Commission's scheme should be voluntary, not mandatory.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said the scheme was 'bordering on insanity'.

One central European diplomat was pessimistic about chances of agreement, saying: 'There would be serious consequences for the European project if this was imposed on countries.'

But EU power broker Germany backed the proposal. 'You can negotiate the allocation. It won't be easy but the way is right,' Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in Berlin.

France will examine the proposal but believes more work is needed to shape an effective and fair plan, a diplomat said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Spain would apply the relocation quotas, if approved, although it would press for a fairer treatment that took account of Spain's high unemployment rate.