Britain can expect a closer partnership with France if Nicolas Sarkozy is elected its President, but the British Prime Minister will face an immediate clash over trade and taxation, according to the favourite for the Elysée Palace.

“I want to change the way that we look at Europe . . . I want Europe to protect us from globalisation, not let in globalisation as a Trojan horse,” Mr Sarkozy told The Times in a French television interview.

Setting out his vision for French revival abroad, Mr Sarkozy, 52, attempted to scotch any idea that, if elected, his admiration for Britain and the US would alter the independent-minded policies pursued by President Chirac and his predecessors.

He would, he said, pursue Mr Chirac’s vision of a multipolar world — a concept that is seen outside France as pitting Europe against the United States as a rival power.

Ségolãne Royal, 53, Mr Sarkozy’s Socialist rival in the May 6 election run-off, has sought to depict him as unpatriotically well-disposed to les Anglo-Saxons. She accused him this week of apologising to Washington for Mr Chirac’s opposition to the Iraq invasion.

Polls yesterday showed Ms Royal continuing to trail Mr Sarkozy by about five points as she manoeuvred for an alliance with François Bayrou, the centrist, who was eliminated in the first-round vote on Sunday. An Opinionway survey yesterday found that 55 per cent would prefer Mr Sarkozy to represent France abroad, with 31 per cent favouring Ms Royal.

France 2 television, the main state channel, invited The Times to conduct the foreign policy segment of a 90-minute session with the candidate, broadcast live on Thursday evening. At his first EU summit, in Brussels in June, a President Sarkozy would push hard for a new tariff on imports from outside the European Union to protect jobs and discourage firms from moving production outside the area, he said. He was relaxed and authoritative in contrast to Ms Royal’s shakier performance in the same slot on Wednesday.

Mr Sarkozy said that he would also press for harmonised business taxes — a project long rejected by Britain and other states. It was time to reduce the power of the national veto in such areas, he said. His proposal for a protective “European preference” in trade is also opposed by Britain and conflicts with the Union’s free-trade policies. “Why should we open our markets when the others don’t? Why impose rules on ourselves?” he said. “I want to defend European jobs and curb offshoring.”

Mr Sarkozy singled out Peter Mandelson, the commissioner who represents the EU in world trade negotiations. “He is a clever man, but the way he negotiates is the opposite of common sense,” he said.

Mr Sarkozy angrily denied Ms Royal’s claim that he had apologised for Mr Chirac’s aggressive opposition to the Iraq invasion. He agreed with Mr Chirac in 2003, he said. “You could question the way it was done, especially on the [United Nations] veto. But on the substance, I would have done exactly the same thing.” The only solution now was for the United States to plan its withdrawal from Iraq.

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