LONDON - Britain's newspapers attacked Friday the appointment of the European Union's first president and foreign policy chief, some calling them lightweights who could struggle on the world stage.

Papers also protested the behind-the-scenes process of selecting the two new leaders in Brussels late Thursday, branding it a "slap in the face for the fundamental principles of British democracy."

"The Great EU Stitch Up," declared the Daily Mail's front page.

"A Labour crony no-one's ever heard of is made EU foreign minister - so a fanatical Belgian federalist who wants Brussels to tax us can become president.

The good news? At least it's not Blair," it said. EU leaders picked little known Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy as Europe's president with a mission to give the continent a greater world profile.

Catherine Ashton from Britain's ruling Labour Party became the EU's foreign policy supremo after Britain dropped its campaign for ex-prime minister Tony Blair so that Van Rompuy got unanimous approval at the Brussels summit.

In backing Blair for the post last month, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Europe needed a president who "stopped the traffic."

But the Financial Times said Van Rompuy and Ashton "would struggle to stop traffic in their own towns," and the appointments cast doubt on whether they would able to compete in Washington and Beijing.

"The choice of two relative unknowns ... dismayed those who wanted to give Europe more clout on the world stage," it said.

"More likely the US president and Chinese premier will continue to work with Europe primarily through bilateral talks with Berlin, London, and Paris," it predicted.

The Guardian agreed, saying the appointments dashed "any hope of Europe forcing the planet to pay it fresh attention."

"The continent last night took a step away from the top table, missing a valuable chance to halt the slide towards a G2 world, dominated by the twin poles of Washington and Beijing," it said.

"Nonetheless, the EU will continue to matter, even as (China's) President Hu (Jintao) sits down with President Who?"

The tabloids were more scathing, pointing to the fact that the pair had been chosen by leaders over dinner rather than elected by European voters.

"The entire process - from the jobs themselves to the way they have been filled, to the people that have filled them - is a slap in the face for the fundamental principles of British democracy," the Mail said.

The Sun's deputy political editor Graeme Wilson said: "Europe's two most powerful jobs were handed out yesterday. But the 500 million people who live in the EU were given no say in who got them.

"It exposed once again how this discredited European empire is rotten to the core."

However The Times' political editor Philip Webster said the "big loser" was Tony Blair, who failed to win the top job despite British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's backing.

"Yesterday was the day that his past caught up with him. His alliance with George Bush in the prosecution of the Iraq war was deeply unpopular with most EU countries."

And the newspaper said Ashton could prove successful, after building a reputation as EU trade commissioner as a negotiator who gets results.

"She may not stop the traffic but she is a good bridge builder and that is her job," one unnamed diplomat said.