British Finance Minister Gordon Brown is widely seen as cool towards Europe, but his reputation could work in his favour in dealings with the European Union if he becomes prime minister.
Mr Brown is expected in weeks or months to take over from Tony Blair, who has said he will step down as prime minister, and EU officials are concerned he is less enthusiastic than his predecessor about close cooperation with Brussels.
But political analysts say his perceived doubts about Europe could be a strength, boosting his hand in negotiations.
"Europe is all about negotiation and it lets him start from a tough negotiating position. It means that he has potentially the British public's trust," said Robin Niblett, director of London-based think-tank Chatham House, Mr Brown has certainly given Brussels grounds to be nervous about how committed he is to the EU.
Running the Treasury for the last decade, he has kept Britain out of the euro currency by deciding the economics were not right, although Mr Blair sees it as Britain's destiny to join.
Unlike Mr Blair, who addressed the European Parliament in French and pledged to put Britain at the heart of Europe, Mr Brown has also made no secret of his boredom with EU meetings, according to one EU commissioner.
He attends episodically - he went to only one in every five meetings of finance ministers in 2006 - and spends few hours in Brussels when he does.
Instead, he regularly issues admonitions for Europe to reform its economic policies, free up its markets and cut its agricultural subsidies the night before such meetings. Britain's mostly "eurosceptic" media lap it up eagerly.
Mr Brown believes his reputation as a staunch defender of British interests will enable him to work better with the EU because the British electorate is largely suspicious of institutions and policies shaped across the Channel.
"It has been a lack of confidence about what Britain stands for that has made it difficult for us to feel confident about our relationship with, and our potential role in, Europe," he said in a seminal speech setting out his thinking in 2004. "The debate over Europe is, at root, about... what we should stand for as a country," said Mr Brown, who wants a new sense of national identity about what it means to be British.
He has also been forging links with leaders such as reform-minded German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he believes shares common ground with him on many European issues.
"His visit to Angela Merkel was very important. My bet would be that Gordon and Merkel will find a degree of kindredship," said Alastair Newton, senior political analyst at investment bank Lehman Brothers in London. "I think that relationship will stand Gordon in good stead."
Mr Brown's style differs greatly from Mr Blair's. An ally said he was "not going to want go to lots of summits all the time" and would choose his battles carefully, waiting for others to blink.
An early example was a row over an EU-wide savings tax. Isolated at the start, Mr Brown refused to accept the executive European Commission's proposals, fearing it would be a body blow to London's eurobond industry. His approach won the day in 2003.
When Britain held the presidency of the Group of Eight industrialised nations in 2005, he irked other ministers by using the moral authority of former South African President Nelson Mandela and the glare of the world's media to force through an agreement on writing off poor countries' debt.
Aides say Mr Brown is not against Europe and believes issues such as economic reform, climate change and tackling terrorism can be addressed only through cooperation within the EU.
He will also be aware of the need to make strategic allies in the bloc of 27 countries - France in particular - to make progress on tackling poverty and providing education in Africa, a key part of his foreign policy agenda.
But talk of political integration and any revival of the European Constitution are likely to get short shrift. Brussels doubters probably have more to fear on such issues from Brown's main opposition rival.
David Cameron's Conservative Party, which leads Mr Brown's Labour in the polls, said this week Europe had lost its focus and he pledged a strong stand defending British interests.
Mr Brown also says liberalising the EU economy and facing the economic challenge posed by countries such as India and China are more important than agonising over theoretical infrastructures - a view that upsets many EU officials.
He may also have to square off when the EU budget is reviewed. Like previous British leaders, Mr Brown wants to find a way of ending Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which subsidises farmers in rich EU states.
He regards the CAP as a big obstacle to a global trade deal, which he sees as central to alleviating poverty in developing nations.