AFTER an unexpectedly harmonious session on Monday, culminating in the resolution of a row over Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) between Germany and France, the mood turned ugly in Amsterdam yesterday.
The trouble started at a dinner on Monday night when the Belgian Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Luc Dehaene, launched into a withering attack on his Dutch counterpart, Mr Wim Kok.
Mr Dehaene accused the Dutch presidency of adopting a timid approach to the extension of majority voting on justice and home affairs issues and complained that Belgium was being hard done by in plans to introduce qualified majority voting.
The row became so ill-tempered that the two leaders left the dinner in a grumpy silence, ignoring reporters' questions.
Dutch officials spent much of the night haggling with Danish representatives over permission to opt out of parts of the treaty, just as Britain and Ireland have secured. The atmosphere of the talks was so sulphurous that one bleary-eyed Dutch official expressed the hope that EU leaders would find time for "some serious Dane-bashing" before they left Amsterdam.
Yesterday morning brought a new shock in the form of a television interview by the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, announcing that Bonn was about to put the brake on plans to extend majority voting to issues surrounding political asylum.
Dr Kohl, who is under intense domestic political pressure, let it be known that he would be unable to push the revised treaty through the German parliament unless he retained the veto. Other EU leaders were astonished by Dr Kohl's U-turn and the most enthusiastic integrationists, including Belgium and Italy, did little to conceal their fury.
Dr Kohl has been in a bad temper for almost a week now, partly on account of the outrageous decision of the new French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, to keep his election pledge to retune his country's European policy.
German officials say that the personal chemistry between Dr Kohl and Mr Jospin, who the chancellor referred to in Amsterdam as "our surprise guest", is distinctly frosty.
By lunchtime, Dr Kohl had won the argument over asylum but he was infuriated when his Dutch hosts suggested that, in proper Amsterdam style, the heads of government should make their way to lunch at the nearby Amstel Hotel by bicycle.
Dr Kohl refused point blank to mount a bicycle, much to the disappointment of the assembled photographers eager to capture the most terrifying image of the summit.
"I am not a monkey," he snorted.
Perhaps as a gesture of Franco-German solidarity, President Chirac also declined to pedal over the bridge to lunch. But the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, gamely accepted the challenge while the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, showed off with a few circuits in front of the conference centre.
The bicycles, by the way, were equipped with seven speeds - which was the closest this summit came to creating the multi-speed Europe that Dr Kohl has long advocated.
Mr Blair arrived at the hotel first, followed by Austria's Mr Viktor Klima, and strode into the dining room like a conquering hero. While Dr Kohl sulked in front of a still empty plate, Mr Blair ostentatiously removed his jacket and perused the newspapers lying on the table - which included The Irish Times.
Ill-natured discussions resumed after lunch and the mood only improved as the prospect of returning home drew nearer and Europe's leaders prepared to offer the world what it wanted to see - a united front and a smiling, harmonious community of nations.
