De borgerlige sidder på magten i EU: af Søren Kudahl og Jens Peter Houe

Ian Manners, British senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, also believes that the most important point in contemporary European politics is how little political difference there really is on the left-and right-wing parties in most countries:

"It is difficult to imagine 'true' socialist or capitalist governments any more. The key is cast on the centre. For the cenre-right it was Margaret Thatcher's government in Britain that was one of the most liberal Europe has seen in decades, and it has scared others from going down that road, "said Ian Manners.

After almost a decade of reflection the Conservative Party in Britain even came to the realization. When it did well in the recent local elections and is strong at the polls, because it is likely that the Conservative leader David Cameron has moved the party sharply to the centre.

Ian Manners has in recent years seen signs of that classic left-wing politics in the form of more regulation of market forces sometimes have escaped to the surface:

"The global economy and the outsourcing of jobs may well provoke a classic left-wing politics, as we, to a certain extent have seen in France and the United States. Yet it is difficult to see. It is difficult to turn back the clock, and many places have the example implemented many privatizations that you cannot easily undo, "says Ian Manners.