Jacques Delors has surprisingly sided with Tony Blair in the British leader's feud with French president Jacques Chirac.

In an interview with the FT, the former European Commission president warned of the dangers of promoting the EU as an alternative pole of power to the US and praised Blair's attempts to build bridges between the two continents.

"We cannot accept the Messianic vision of the Americans, but nor can we limit ourselves to simply opposing it," he said.