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Although Tony Blair engaged with Europe after years of being in the margins and introduced some major changes in the British policy towards the EU, as in defence, the British position in Europe remains ambivalent after thirteen years of New Labour government. The UK has neither adopted the euro nor joined the Schengen agreement. The Brown government favoured national as well as global responses to the economic crisis rather than European ones. The UK’s European partners worry about the likely return of the Conservatives in power in the spring, as their rhetoric about Europe has become increasingly negative and ideological, but the continuity of British European policy, beyond rhetorical differences, may limit the differences between the present and future governments.