British students enrolled in universities of European Union countries may be granted EU citizenship under a plan discussed by EU leaders after Britain's vote to leave the EU, Italy's prime minister said on Tuesday.

"If a British student decides to spend two, three, four years in a European university, we are studying now if it is possible to give him a European passport (..)," Matteo Renzi told reporters in Brussels after a meeting of European socialist leaders where the initiative was discussed.

Mr Renzi said the plan was also on the table at a meeting he attended on Monday in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

The move could be welcomed by British students on the continent who are uncertain about their future rights in EU countries after the EU referendum.