Brussels, 10/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a speech at Chatham House in London on 9 November, the President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell said 'there is an enormous gap between the perceptions of Europe's leaders and the population at large. In the UK, this gap is at its most extreme. Tony Blair told the European Parliament in June that he is a 'passionate pro-European'. But most British people see Europe as a source of problems.' Borrell said one way of 'challenging this gap' was 'through communicating Europe', where the European Parliament 'will play ain important role in the organising of wide-ranging debates on topics from Europe's borders to Europe's role in the world. The first debate will take place in Vienna in December just before Austria takes over the EU Presidency.' 'It is always much easier for any government to take the credit for the good things that come out of Europe and use 'Brussels' as a useful bogeyman to be blamed for everything that is unpopular.' 'Of course, a good marketing strategy is useless without a good product,' said Borrell, welcoming the clear consensus at Hampton Court in some areas. 'I am personally hopeful that we will see fresh political will behind some new development in active labour market policies, in energy policy and in research. But divisions emerged clearly as well, between the countries which are currently benefitting from globalisation and those which fear the divided societies created by winners and losers. These divisions exist in the Parliament too, explaining the huge difficulties of reaching agreement on the services directive and REACH. But we should avoid too much gloom about the European economy and the future of its social model. There is a lot of nonsense written about Europe's social welfare model and excessive regulation dragging us down into an impoverished and declining future.' 'There has always been a tendency for pro-Europeans to be over-pessimistic about the future. As early as 1953, Harold McMillan was telling us that 'Europe is finished, dying: if I were a younger man, I'd emigrate to America.' Borrell explained: 'It is clear that the success or failure of the Presidency will be judged on whether it successfully negotiates a deal on the future funding of the EU in December's summit. A deal is central to the credibility and effectiveness of our enlarged Europe. No agreement would jeopardise the Union's policies on convergence, growth and job creation. And the costs will be borne by the least well-off areas of the Union. As time passes, I see more and more anxiety and confusion developing… And the money we are asking for is not a matter of wanting to spend or to consume more: it is about investing in the future, in the priorities that we all agreed on at Hampton Court, in financing the successful and competitive Europe we all want to see… Personally, I strongly recommend that leaders bring an extra shirt for the December Council, not because of the cold, wet weather in Brussels, but because the Summit may carry on longer than planned. I expect negotiations to be long and difficult. It will be a European Council that makes a different for the future of the European Union.'