The Irish presidency's effort to broker a deal on a European Union-wide patent law ended in failure last night as Spain and Germany blocked an agreement.

The Tánaiste, Ms Mary Harney, who chaired the meeting, said the failure was "deeply disappointing".

The European Commissioner for the single market, Mr Bolkestein, said the disagreement "undermined the credibility of the whole enterprise to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010" .

He blamed "vested protectionist interests" for standing in the way of agreement. EU officials suggested Germany was holding out against Ms Harney's proposed compromises because it wishes to protect the income of Germany's regional patent courts, which would be bypassed by a Community patent.

The Spanish government, which wants to defend the status of the Spanish language in European institutions, argued that translations of the original patent claim should have legal force.

The patent may feature at the summit meeting of heads of state and government, the Spring European Council.

But Mr Bolkestein asked: "What is the point of delegating this up to the European Council if nothing is done?"

Ms Harney said: "We must keep looking for solutions. Everyone agrees on the need for a patent. The difficulties arise with the nature of the patent and the status of translations of a claim."