Women told: love the EU

Ministers have launched a campaign to persuade women to love the European Union - and face claims they are really promoting the single currency.

The move follows a Foreign Office survey showing women were more like ly to be eurosceptics than men. The campaign will argue that families benefit from EU social legislation, including consumer rights and protected maternity leave, in an attempt to turn around opinion.

Information packs even highlight the fact that 40 players at Wimbledon this year were women from countries in the process of joining the EU, and Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Minister for Europe Peter Hain announced the campaign at a dinner for women journalists, saying it was part of the Government's push to overcome British suspicion of Europe and end public "disengagement" with the EU.

But anti-euro campaigners claimed it was an attempt to soften up opinion ahead of a possible referendum on joining the single currency next spring. Janet Bush, co-chairwoman of the No campaign, said: "If you are campaigning for the euro, why not actually say so instead of going on about Marie Curie?"

A recent survey suggested only 20 per cent of women would vote to join the euro, compared with 30 per cent of men. One in five women said they would oppose membership, compared with one in six men.