German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has dismissed proposals from the CDU's sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) to impose a limit on the number of refugees admitted to the country.

"As far as an upper limit is concerned, my position is clear: I will not accept it," Merkel said when speaking in her annual "summer interview" with television channel ARD on Sunday night.

Merkel's comments placed her at odds with CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who has openly mulled over making a cap on refugees a condition for forming another coalition with the CDU.

A limit on the number of refugees also featured in the CSU's separate legislative program, "the Bavarian plan".