Europe must work in partnership with the US, the prime minister has told MPs.

Tony Blair insisted the US is "a very, very powerful force for the values that we believe in".

"America, for all its faults, is a force for good in the world," he said during a session before the Commons liaison committee.

The prime minister told EU leaders that he has "fundamental" disagreements with those who seek to build a European power bloc to rival the US.

And he warned that a split between Europe and America on security issues would be "absolutely disastrous".

Following a threat from Germany and France that they may use UN vetoes to block an Iraq war, he cautioned against a growing anti-Americanism on the continent.

"There are a lot voices in Europe, and I hear them all the time, who think that the role of Europe is to become America's rival. I fundamentally disagree with that," Blair said.

"If we start falling out on major questions of international security it will be absolutely disastrous."

Blair's intervention comes as some European leaders suggest that the EU should become a counterweight to the US.

They argue that an enlarged EU could challenge America's uncontested superpower status.

Answering critics who point to Washington's opt-out on the Kyoto protocol, Blair insisted that there was no conflict in values.

"I don't think there is a fundamental difference in values between America and Europe. And I think its very dangerous sometimes when we think there is," he said.

And he warned that the EU was also guilty of the same inward looking nature often criticised in the US.

"You mention protectionism, well Europe has not exactly got a world beating record on that either to be absolutely frank," he said.

Defending the "special relationship", Blair stressed that Europe stood shoulder to shoulder with the US on the issues that count.

"Yes there going to be disagreements," he told the Commons liaison committee. "I don't think that means however that the whole relationship is set at naught."

On the critical issues of global security, Blair insisted there was no rift between Europe and Washington.

"If you take the big picture items between America and Europe we basically stand for the same values, liberty, tolerance democracy. In the fight against international terrorism we are all on the same side," said the prime minister.