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European Council, 16–17 June

My Lords, will the noble Baroness, when conveying to her colleagues the support, which seemed to be general, for the tone of the Statement, also advise that that same tone be maintained this week in the Government’s rhetoric in the European Parliament and at the Mansion House? It would be desirable to avoid giving any ammunition to those who wish to caricature our socio-economic model as being that of callous capitalism that is raw in tooth and claw. In fact, our model is not closest to the United States, it is much closer to that of the Finns and the Irish, who are among the successes of the euro-zone, and the Danes and the Swedes who are among the successes to be found outside the euro-zone. It would be a great pity that trumpeting our triumphs might suggest that we think that we are on our own. That would be as much an error as maintaining that there was a single European economic model, that its sole or best custodian was in the Elysée and that we, alone, were impervious to her charms.