France denied a report in Britain's The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday that it would be prepared to give its permanent seat at the UN Security Council to the European Union.

Citing a member of the European parliament, the paper said that France would consider exchanging the seat in exchange for support from other EU members for a European army and reforms to the way the bloc formulates its foreign policy.

- We formally deny this. The seat is ours and will remain that way - a spokesperson for the French presidency said.

- We coordinate with the EU as much as possible and with complete sovereignty - the spokesperson added.

France is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Britain, China, Russia and the United States.