Geoff Hoon, the Minister for Europe, has written to Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, calling for a boost in EU lessons in the national curriculum, The Times has learnt. Mr Hoon said that he was concerned that children were indifferent to the EU because they were not taught about benefits such as free trade and cheap travel. He said: “There is a kind of grudging acceptance that we are members [of the EU] but without anyone understanding what it does or what it means.

“We have got to make what goes on in Europe come alive. It is about trying to explain what it does and what it means in terms of practical consequences.

“ I certainly think that that should be part of the national curriculum, a part of the citizenship process.

“I have no doubt there should be an element in there that explains what the EU is and how it works.”

Guidance for teachers states that the structure of the EU and other international bodies such as the UN can be taught in citizenship classes. But Mr Hoon wants the revised curriculum, currently under consultation, to require all children to learn about its benefits.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has added details to its website on Britain in the EU, including a virtual tour. These could form the basis of classroom materials, Mr Hoon said.

The Conservatives, however, said that they would resist any teaching resources that looked like propaganda.Graham Brady, the Shadow Europe Minister, said: “It would be welcome if genuinely objective information about the EU was available to British children. But that information must be clearly objective and must not be a kind of gloss attempting to promote a particular view of Europe.”

The National Union of Teachers said that there was no room in the timetable for extra EU lessons.

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