Because of this he said there was a lot of opportunity for Europe to
outperform the UK this year – especially as newsflow began to sound more
positive.

The turning point for the eurozone was last summer when president of the
European Central Bank Mario Draghi promised to save the euro from breaking
up.

The clear commitment meant that confidence began to return to the region, a
trend that Mr Baker said would continue in 2013.

“Exports are the key driver of growth in Europe, rather than consumption or
government expenditure, both of which are more affected by the domestic
economic picture. Around 50pc of European companies’ revenues are from
outside Europe, and emerging markets are key,” he said. “Throughout the
recent crisis many European companies have been quietly prospering, simply
because they make the stuff that the rest of the world is queuing up to buy.”

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