Britain wants to reassure EU member states that its vision of market reform will not create a society of "winners and losers," a leading British official in Europe said yesterday.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson sought to bolster British Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts as the new temporary holder of the EU presidency to dispel fears that London was pushing unfettered capitalism on Europe.
Mandelson, a close Blair ally, told BBC radio that the 25-nation bloc needed to develop a similar mix of social and economic policies to those in Britain.
"We need more open markets, we need greater innovation and higher productivity growth in Europe if we are going to take on the huge competitive challenge that we are facing from China, India and elsewhere in Asia," he said.
"We also need social policies and social action to flank these economic policies," Mandelson said.
"People need to be equipped for this sort of change. They need to see that change is being managed and we are not just turning our economy and society into one of winners and losers where the losers simply sink to the bottom," he said. "That is not the sort of society we want in Europe."
Mandelson said such policies should "overwhelmingly" be constructed and implemented at the national rather than the European level.
"There is no point in scaring the living daylights out of people and then saying `Right, get on with it, sink or swim.' We have to help people, equip them for that change," he said.
"If we want the rest of Europe to change and embrace economic reform then we need that sort of mix, that sort of balance, that I think we have developed successfully in Britain, to be built in the rest of Europe," he said.
In a keynote speech to the European parliament in Brussels on Thursday before Britain assumes the rotating EU presidency this Friday, Blair warned of "failure on a grand, strategic scale" if Europe did not adapt to the challenge of globalization.
At the same time, he sought to dispel fears that he wanted to dismantle the benefits and protections enjoyed by millions of Europeans.
Blair also said that failure to act risked a retreat into nationalism and xenophobia.
"We have to renew," he said, as he urged the union to welcome new members such as Turkey and Croatia, and to modernize economically to confront the competitive challenges of China and India.
Blair used the occasion to respond to keen critics such as French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
They blame Blair for the acrimonious collapse of the EU's summit meeting last week.
The parliament gave the speech a warm reception, including sporadic applause -- although there also was some heckling -- confounding expectations of a much colder welcome.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said yesterday that he was pleased by Blair's speech, but he said Blair should be judged by actions rather than words.
"I am pleased to hear these words from the mouth of Tony Blair. I am happy to see that today in the presidency of the European Union he wants to move forward," he said on France Inter radio.
"I simply want to be sure we are talking about the same thing. I am not accusing him of anything. But we must judge him by his acts," he said.
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