Leaders of the European project spend much time searching for icons of a single European identity. They name “Europeans of the Year” and give awards to books-and even to journalists.

But the Charlemagne column on the latest issue of The Economist

suggested there is a Charlemagne prize, a German bauble for which this column takes no credit.

In the hunt for a distinctive European identity, they consider toy brands, such as Denmark’s Lego or Germany’s Playmobil.

These firms may be dwarfed in America by titans like Mattel, but in Europe they are cultural giants, vying for top spots in markets such as France and Germany. In their designs, business models and philosophies, they offer a striking snapshot of European aspirations, anxieties and foibles.

This column offers as its “European of the Year” Playmobil man, a short, stiff-legged, eternally smiling, plastic figure first created three decades ago, and today churned out at a rate of 80 million a year.

Study these little people, and you learn much about European views of globalisation, violence, creativity, America, race, gender equality and what makes a good job. For example, says Playmobil’s chief executive, Andrea Schauer, “the dream of every German mother” used to be to have an engineer for a son. Parents liked to see boys assembling elaborate structures in their bedrooms; Lego is the top toy brand in Germany.

In contrast, the French shun construction toys, preferring the world of the imagination. Playmobil is their leading toy brand.

Most Playmobil figures are made in Malta, with their accessories made in Germany; most Lego bricks are made in Denmark.