Yes, the European model remains superior to that of America and Japan.

The European model is in danger if we obliterate the principle of personal responsibility.

Cinema explains American society. It's like a Western, with good guys and bad guys, where the weak don't have a place.

These days there are not enough of such intermediary groups, between the state and the individual, with the result that political leaders are often unduly guided by opinion polls.

The unions still have a job to do, representing their members' interests to governments and parliaments. And I think collective agreements still have a role, alongside markets and laws.

Even in Britain, the trade unions tell me that employment contracts have less protection than in the past.

The unions may continue to decline, but if they do, it'll be their fault.