When Tony Blair took over the six-month presidency of the European Union he made confident claims that the move would put Britain in the lead in the EU and ensure other countries followed the UK agenda.

Still on cloud nine after the landslide general election victory, it seemed Mr Blair and the New Labour government were invincible. And they certainly had the power to make things happen in Europe.

Most of the other countries were heartily sick of the previous Tory government which they claimed, with some justification, was in the grip of its Eurosceptics. And they were eager for change.

The presidency also came at a crucial time for Europe, with key decisions to be taken on the single currency and enlargement and a major battle to reduce record unemployment.

Unprecedented snub

But on Thursday the socialist-dominated European parliament, led by one of the Tories' most effective operators Edward McMillan-Scott, delivered an unprecedented snub to Mr Blair and the government by rejecting a motion congratulating the UK on its presidency.

McMillan-Scott: Labour ambush

It was claimed the MEPs were angry at the way Britain had handled its term in office - and the way its spin doctors had behaved throughout the period.

The motion of congratulation, which had been beefed up by Labour MEPs to heap praise on the UK, was described as "a spin too far", and the parliament threw it out.

The defeat was partly due to a bit of clever procedural manouvering by the Tories, but that did not hide the fact that many in Europe are deeply dissapointed at the way the presidency has been handled.

During the six months, which ends with the Cardiff summit next month, they became increasingly fed up with the way Labour aides behaved by constantly spinning decisions to put the government in the best possible light.

That is something that has been going on for so long in the UK that it has become a fact of political life and hardly raises an eyebrow anymore.

Media machine

But no other European government has such an all-pervasive and powerful media machine and the spin doctors' tactics shocked and angered many of them.

But there were also other more serious concerns about the presidency. Many in Europe have been dismayed at the apparent lack of direction of the EU under Tony Blair and even more were furious that their big day - the launch of the single currency - was botched.

Cook: criticised on foreign policy

Different groups in the parliamant combined to throw out the motion, and they all had their own reasons for doing so.

The Tories, led by Mr McMillan-Scott, mainly wanted to make Labour look bad and they used the procedures in the parliament to effectively ambush them.

But other groups, like the Communists, wanted to take revenge on Robin Cook for his ethical foreign policy, which they claim has been a huge failure.

Others also attacked Mr Cook for failing to get to grips with thorny foreign policy issues like Turkey.

Euro mess

There have also been criticisms that, despite Mr Blair putting the battle against unemployment top of the EU's agenda, little has actually been done and the jobless queues are as long as ever.

Duisenberg: will quit central bank job early

But the single issue that united virtually all of them was the mess the government made of the launch of the Euro.

This was meant to be the crowning glory of the presidency and is an issue dear to the hearts of most European governments. They wanted it to be unveield with fanfares and celebrations in the streets - what they got was a bitter row over the central bank that overshadowed the entire event.

The prime minister was accused of failing to prepare properly for the Euro meeting which turned into a bitter battle between France and Germany over who should head the poweful new bank.

Dutchman Wim Duisenberg was supported by Germany and most other EU states, but the French dug their heels in a insisted their man, Jean-Claude Trichet, should get the job.

The row rumbled on throughout the Euro meeting, completely eclipsing the official launch of the Euro. It finally ended with a classic, and some believe laughable, fudge with Mr Duisenberg saying he would stand down half way through his term of office and hand over to Mr Trichet. He later poured scorn on the way the affair had been handled.

Speaking after the vote, Mr McMillan-Scott declared: "The fact is that our continental colleagues have finally seen through the New Labour rhetoric.

"There has been widespread complaint at the lack of progress made during the UK presidency and Robin Cook's feeble performance has failed to impress MEPs from every party."

Labour tried to play down the snub, effectively admitting they had been ambushed. But there is little doubt that the presidency that started with such high hopes is ending on a sour note.

It will now be up to the prime minister to try to retrieve the position by setting out Britain's achievements at the end-of-presidency summit in Cardiff.