Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were revealed to have made a pact to railroad Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium’s Prime Minister, into the powerful Brussels job created by the Lisbon Treaty.

The attempted "stitch-up" angered Britain, Spain, Italy and Poland along with other central and east European countries.

News of the attempted deal came yesterday after Chancellor Merkel announced a Franco-German alliance to appoint a president and an EU foreign minister.

"Germany and France will reach an agreement together on this issue and not oppose each other," she said.

But the extent of the behind-the-scenes negotiations emerged when Reinhard Bettzuege, Germany’s ambassador to Brussels, yesterday (WEDS) broke a code of silence on the EU job.

To the embarrassment of the German leader, he publicly throw his country’s support behind Mr Van Rompuy, the presidential favourite.

"Germany thinks the Belgian Prime Minister is a good candidate for the EU presidency. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government are behind Van Rompuy," he told De Morgen, a Belgian newspaper.

"The German government is for Prime Minister Van Rompuy and if his candidacy fails it will not be due to Berlin."

German officials later tried to claim he had been misquoted before eventually admitting he did make the comments but was not speaking on the government’s behalf.

The Franco-German deal envisages a centre-right president alongside centre-left EU foreign affairs "High Representative". Mr Van Rompuy has emerged as the presidential favourite and Miguel Angel Moratinos has edged ahead favourite in the contest for foreign minister.

But the alliance between the German Chancellor and French President has alienated countries, including Britain, Poland and Spain that are unhappy with the idea of the Europe’s "big two" sewing up a deal.

"The days when France and Germany could decide things for a small cosy club are long gone and a good thing too," said an East European diplomat.

The last Franco-German attempt to impose a candidate for a top EU job failed in 2004 when Guy Verhofstadt, the then Belgium prime minister, was vetoed by Britain for the post of European Commission President.

Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, has called for the EU appointments process to "be as transparent and democratic as possible", using words that were seen as coded criticism of Europe’s two biggest and most powerful countries.

A senior diplomatic source described the mood among southern, central and East European EU countries as "angry" amid preparations for a summit that many officials and diplomats fear will be chaotic and unpredictable.

The row could knock Belgium’s haiku-writing prime minister from his position as the favourite for the EU president post.

Other candidates such as Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister or Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a former Latvian president, could be the beneficiaries of the backlash to the Franco-German strategy.