As the UK takes over the presidency of the European Union on Friday, Tony Blair, the prime minister, is adamant that Europe must continue to follow the path of economic reform. Shrugging off the objections of voters in France and the Netherlands and the sour comments of Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, following the collapse of the EU summit, Tony Blair insists that the European labour market must become more flexible with less regulation and lower levels of social protection. In fact, He wants Europe to become more like Britain.

Recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development illustrate the difference between the UK approach and the European social model. The UK has the lowest benefits for the first year of unemployment of any OECD country. – some 20 per cent of post-tax earnings below the average for the “old” EU-15. Employment protection is lower in the UK than anywhere else in the rest of the EU-15. , both for temporary and permanent workers. The UK has longer working hours than any other EU-15 country and the UK government is determined to keep its unique opt-out from the hours limit in the working time directive.