Well in many respects UK != Europe. Even the British don't really consider themselves European for the most part, or so it seems to me. I still use the word 'they' when referring to Europeans, and I'm a pro-European who lives in France! It's engrained in us. The UK is standing alone, just outside of Europe but staying close enough to have a say. And binge drinking is a very British problem, I think. It strikes me every time I return to the UK, which is frequently, that in most British towns and cities it's a jungle when the pubs and bars turn out. I don't like it, it makes me very uneasy. And I don't see it in France. France has a whole other set of problems, but paralytic-drunk 20 and 30-somethings falling out of bars and nightclubs and getting in fights doesn't seem to be one of them, I'm pleased to say. Nor do I see it in Italy, where my wife hails from. In fact, I had to go to Prague to see real good old-fashioned drunken idiots on a night out... and guess what? They were British! Damn you, easyJet.

Anyway, I digress. Just saying drinking *is* a good comparison I think, if you ignore the UK when you're talking about Europe, and why not? I reckon more than half the people in the UK do. ;-)