The UK was conspicuously greyed out as a non-EU country in material the EU Commission has produced to advertise the launch of its keystone Pillar of Social Rights.

Britain, which has more domestic labour protections than most European countries, is not mentioned in part of the planning for what Brussels boss Jean-Claude Juncker has described as his most important policy.

The stark omission demonstrates how the EU plans to press ahead with its agenda without the UK, which will regardless continue to pay into the bloc's budget for at least the next two years.

The social pillar advocates an increase in labour rights and particularly work-life balance, calling for greater mandatory maternity and paternity leave periods to encourage more women into work.

But it has been criticised in some quarters for being too weak, with eurocrats admitting the document is "a principles based document, not detailed instruction" when asked why it does not include calls for a standard minimum wage across Europe.

Launching the scheme today, Mr Juncker said: "As Commission President, I have been seeking to put social priorities at the heart of Europe's work, where they belong.

"With the European Pillar of Social Rights and the first set of initiatives that accompany it, we are delivering on our promises and we are opening a new chapter.

"We want to write this chapter together: Member States, EU institutions, the social partners and civil society all have to take their responsibility."

He added: "I believe we do well to start this initiative within the euro area, while allowing other EU member states to join if they want to do so."

Mr Juncker has previously said he wants to restore the EU's "triple A" rating for social standards, and has today announced a "social scoreboard" which will rank countries on how they treat their workers.

The Pillar of Social Rights was formally agreed today by the EU's 28 Commissioners, who met in Brussels to discuss how it can be legally implemented.

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