Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr Gordon Brown has criticised Europe for lack of competitiveness and rigidity, suggesting its leaders would do well to learn from Britain's economic success.
Mr Brown made his criticism the day after a meeting of EU finance ministers at which he trumpeted Britain's recent economic recovery and bemoaned euro zone weakness.
"Europe's rigidities, inflexibilities and lack of competitiveness, which could once be sheltered in the era of trade blocs, are now fully exposed in the era of global competition," he wrote in an article in the staunchly euro sceptic Daily Telegraph.
"We must explicitly reject old flawed assumptions that a single market should lead inexorably to tax harmonisation, fiscal federalism and then a federal state," said Mr Brown.
He said Europe must move beyond "short-termist" fiscal policy, adopt a proactive and independent competition regime, follow Britain's example on unemployment, and abandon "grandiose schemes" for harmonising taxes.
Mr Brown called on the European Union's member states to work towards reopening World Trade Organisation negotiations and removing trade barriers between Europe and the United States.
"Our rejection of a federal European state and support for an outward-looking and flexible European Union is not a British obsession, but can become, we believe, the settled view of most of Europe," he said.