London, July 4:

Britain’s new finance minister Alistair Darling rejected the concept of economic nationalism as ‘nonsense’ in an interview published today.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Darling said that there was an ideological battle within the EU between those who believed in Lisbon agenda, a 10-year reform drive launched in 2000, and those who didn’t.

“I do not believe in economic patriotism,” Darling said, “I think it is nonsense. Economic patriotism is protectionism and there is no other name for it.” The paper interpreted Darling’s comments as a criticism of the policy of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has in the past defended the right to block corporate takeovers and to protect domestic industries with the term ‘economic nationalism’.