Wife and husband European (8)
I believe the answer is:
dutchman
'european' is the definition.
(Dutchman is an example)
'wife and husband' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'dutch' (slang term).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'husband' becomes 'man' (a married man).
'dutch'+'man'='DUTCHMAN'
(Other definitions for dutchman that I've seen before include "Wagner composed 'The Flying ........'" , "Wagner's seafarer" , "European" , "bolster his wife" , "Native of Amsterdam, for example" .)