Tony Blair has called for an end to the Franco-German domination of Europe and said the EU should forge a "common agenda" with the United States to solve the world's problems.

The prime minister told a conference of centre-left leaders in Budapest that it was essential to build an outward-looking Europe of "equal partners" which regarded America as an ally rather than a "rival".

"The point of enlargement is unity not the creation of new divisions in place of those which we have erased. Together we are all founding members of a new Europe. Our future should be as one Europe where all are equal partners together," he said.

He also called on European nations to look beyond the Iraq conflict to a new era of transatlantic relations.

"I do believe it is essential that Europe and the United States work together. I think that any idea we can build a coherent international agenda on a division between Europe and the US is simply wrong," said Blair. 

Meanwhile, Home Office minister Caroline Flint told MPs on Thursday that the government would be "robust" in defending British interests when EU leaders negotiated harmonising European criminal justice policy.