France and Germany are making a concerted push for closer European defence co-operation, calling for a new military headquarters and shared assets in a joint paper aiming to shape an intensifying EU debate on the issue.

The six-page position paper, seen by the Financial Times, puts a Franco-German stamp on long-touted ideas to knit-together the national armed forces of willing European countries more closely.

In the wake of Britain’s referendum decision to leave the EU, European leaders are eyeing a leap forward on defence, reviving long-ignored proposals to operate together more routinely and share military hardware. The issue is expected to be discussed at an informal summit in Bratislava on Friday.

However some member states still have serious misgivings about deep military co-operation that may duplicate Nato. Ursula von der Leyen and Jean-Yves Le Drian, defence ministers of Germany and France, respectively, are careful to stop short of endorsing some of the most radical ideas to centralise military spending and decision-making.

The Franco-German ministers argue it is “high time to strengthen our solidarity and European capacities in defence, to more effectively protect our borders and EU citizens, and to contribute to peace and stability in our neighbourhood”.

Given the Brexit vote, the ministers say Europe’s goal must be for the remaining 27 member states to move towards “a comprehensive, realistic and credible defence in the European Union”.

While Paris and Berlin have in the past only cautiously acted on their longstanding rhetorical support for deep military co-operation, diplomats say the current political environment provides a rare opportunity for progress.

The Franco-German suggestions will feed into several streams of work across the EU examining the potential for defence co-operation, including by the European Commission and by Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief. A series of meetings of defence and foreign ministers over coming months would prepare guidance for a summit of EU leaders in December.

Most notable is the Franco-German support for a permanent military headquarters to plan and run EU military and civilian missions, such as the Sophia operation against migrant smuggling in the Mediterranean. To date these have been commanded from headquarters in nominated member states.

“The EU has the unique ability to use and combine military and civilian instruments. Ideally this should be reflected in the process of strategic and operational planning of [EU] missions and operations,” the paper said.

The Franco-German plan would develop these capabilities through willing member states embarking on so-called “structured military co-operation” — a form of integration allowed by the EU treaty but never used. Britain has long been opposed to any such initiative, arguing it would intrude on Nato’s remit and waste resources and effort.

Other ideas include a European medical command, a logistics hub for strategic transport capabilities, common officer training courses to develop “a European spirit”, and expanded potential for common financing of EU operations.

The Franco-German paper supports the EU building up its capabilities to gather intelligence at sea — a key shortcoming identified in recent operations — but stops short of explicitly suggesting assets such as drones or ships should be developed, owned and run by EU institutions.