In our third podcast, I talk with Neil O’Brien, Director of Open Europe, a think tank which has just published Beyond the European Social Model. The book argues that the European social model has failed, even the Swedish version of that model. Instead, Europe should look to Ireland - the Celtic tiger which in thirty years has moved from the sick man of Europe to the second richest European economy. We discuss the relevance of Skype and Nokia to the European economy and whether Europe should spend more on research and development. How do we solve the problem of Turkey’s EU membership? And what does ‘variable geometry’ mean?

Running time: 11m12s