Prodi uit kritiek op Europese visie van Tony Blair (en) - Hoofdinhoud

Former European Commission president Romano Prodi said UK prime minister Tony Blair's words differed from his deeds when it came to his vision on the EU.

Speaking in Bologna, Mr Prodi said that the British prime minister had "always had an Anglo-Saxon idea of Europe in which [Brussel's] institutions had a fundamentally marginal role", according to the Times.

"With [Tony] Blair I see a deep contradiction between what he says and what he does", Mr Prodi added.

The former European Commission president's words came after Mr Blair made opening speeches for the UK presidency of the EU - which started on 1 July - calling for changes in Europe in order to make it stronger and more modern.

The British prime minister, who referred to himself as always having been a "passionate pro-European" in a speech in the European Parliament two weeks ago, said that Europe and its economy needed to be modernised to face the contemporary world's challenges.

But Mr Prodi criticised his comments, referring to Mr Blair's behaviour in regards to the Lisbon agreements on the European economy, "He enthusiastically supported the measures to re-launch the economy, but when it came to putting them into practice he wanted decisions to be made on a national level".

And concerning Mr Blair's calls for innovation in European industry, the former commission president said that a report by the EU executive on that matter had been ignored by the UK for a long time, according to the Times.

Romano Prodi was president of the European Commission from September 1999 until 18 November 2004.

He is currently leading Italy's Ulivo coalition, in opposition to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing government.

Mr Prodi is expected to lead the Ulivo coalition in the 2006 general election campaign.