Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, has urged Gordon Brown to leave behind his “outmoded” views on the European Union when he takes over as British prime minister next month.

Describing him as one of Europe’s great finance ministers, Mr Sarkozy said: “Gordon Brown has advanced and modernised the British economy over 10 years. I hope that in moving from Number 11 to Number 10 Downing Street he understands that Europe is not outmoded.”