By William Horsley BBC European Affairs correspondent

Italy will object to any proposal in which it is not involved

Speaking at a meeting in Athens, Mr Berlusconi, said Italy would reject the main proposal from Wednesday's meeting.

It calls for the appointment of a powerful new figure in the European Commission to co-ordinate economic and social policy in the EU.

The proposal has received a cool response from other EU countries.

Mr Berlusconi's angry words were matched by a sweeping verdict - he said Italy's answer would be 'No' to any proposal reached by the three other leaders without Italy's involvement.

Such brusque statements are no longer very surprising, from this most unpredictable of Italian leaders.

But Mr Blair, Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac were at pains in Berlin to stress that they did not aim to impose decisions on the rest of the EU.

Their proposals, including one for a powerful new commission vice-president for economic matters, have been sent in the approved way to the Irish government - which now holds the EU presidency - and to the commission itself.

But Germany, Britain and France clearly face a level of mistrust among other states which could make it harder to get their proposals accepted without change or delay.

Cool response

Officials and leading media in other European capitals have reacted rather coolly to the list of proposals that came out of the Berlin summit for revitalising European economies and making them more globally competitive.

Other countries insist that Germany and France should first correct problems like their own excessive spending and market protection before preaching to others.

The three leaders have tried to reassure other EU members

Some EU governments also voiced worries that the so-called Big Three of Germany, Britain and France might use their "closed" meeting to do deals on big unresolved issues like the EU constitution or future EU foreign policies.

European officials say the private talks among the leaders were general and no strategic decisions were taken.

Mr Schroeder, as the host in Berlin, is to brief his European colleagues on the talks.