But according to a new survey of 300 of Europe's top businesses, establishing the European-ness of a product and exploiting that identity is much harder.

John Sorrell and Tina Knight talk about how companies can present themselves in Europe

Businesses could be missing out on valuable customers as a result.

The UK economy is worth about £600bn but taken as a whole, the entire European Union GDP is seven times as big at £4,735bn .

That puts it in the same league as the United States with a GDP of £4,210bn and Japan with £2,700bn.

Half of those businesses surveyed said they believed a European identity would be valuable in selling their products outside the EU.

Two-thirds said they believed that there was such a thing as a European culture.

But most considered it to be hard to define and even harder to express.

Missed opportunities

The research, carried out by branding consultancy Interbrand and Sorrell, was commissioned for independent think tank Demos.

Interbrand Newell and Sorrell chairman John Sorrell said: "This initial feedback suggests that many companies in Europe are facing big issues of identity and are confused as to whether they should market themselves as local, national, European or global entities."

"European companies are missing a real opportunity to clarify their positioning and reap the business benefits."