Britain, France and Germany will seek to agree a blueprint for European economic reform that can then be adopted across the EU, London said on Sunday, as Europe's big three prepared to meet in Berlin this week.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said economic reform would top the agenda at talks between British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday.
But Straw rejected suggestions that the European Union's three largest economies, trying to patch up relations after a damaging split over the Iraq war, were forming an exclusive alliance that would dictate policies through the bloc.
"Right at the top of the agenda is that of economic reform, and many foreign policy issues, and seeing whether we have a common understanding," Straw said.
"If the three of us do agree, then Europe is more likely to be united. If there is a split between the three of us, Europe is much less likely to be united," he told BBC Radio.
Straw said he understood the anxieties of other EU states over the trilateral alliance but he said the three would not impose their will on the rest of the bloc.
Agreement between Europe's three biggest countries and economies would ease decision-making in an enlarged EU after 10 mostly ex-communist states join the bloc in May, Straw said.
The three would seek to agree on voting rights in an enlarged bloc and on the EU's budget, Straw said.
Britain is leading a drive to make Europe's labour markets more flexible and strip away red tape to help revive sagging EU economies. On the budget, Britain argues against substantial additional funding to finance an enlarged Union from May.
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