The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has expressed frustration and disappointment at the failure of EU enterprise ministers to agree rules for an EU-wide patent.

Speaking in Brussels last night after chairing a meeting that rejected the plan, Ms Harney said there was no sign that the proposal, which has been under discussion for a decade, had a prospect of being adopted.

"This is very disappointing given the huge efforts that have been made over many years," she said.

Twenty countries voted in favour of the proposal, which required unanimous support but Germany, France, Spain and Portugal voted against it while Italy abstained. The central dispute was over the number of languages in which it would be possible to apply for a patent and in which it could be issued.

Mr Frits Bolkestein, the commissioner responsible for the EU's internal market, said that an EU patent would have significantly reduced the cost of patenting inventions in Europe, which is currently five times as high as in the US.

The Netherlands, which assumes the EU Presidency from Ireland in July, told the Tánaiste it saw little point in attempting to revive negotiations later this year. Ms Harney acknowledged that yesterday's failure called into question the commitment of EU governments to the Lisbon Agenda, which aims to make Europe more competitive.

Despite yesterday's failure to agree the patent, the Irish Presidency recorded some successes, including an agreement to outlaw certain unfair and aggressive commercial practices throughout the EU.

Such practices include false claims that a product has been approved by a public or private body; presenting statutory consumers' rights as a distinctive feature of a trader's offer; claiming that a shop is about to close down when it is not; and falsely claiming that a product can cure illness.

The ministers also agreed on a directive for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, including those for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers and architects.

Mr Bolkestein praised the Irish Presidency for its success in persuading member-states to remove obstacles within the internal market, a process he compared to pulling teeth.