UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has come under fire over Europe during heated exchanges in the House of Commons.

Tory leader Michael Howard said Mr Blair was "wriggling like a worm on a fish hook" over Europe.

Mr Blair said the Conservatives wanted to quit the EU and quoted a Margaret Thatcher speech from 1981 spelling out the damage withdrawal would do then.

The issues of the future of the EU constitution and the UK's rebate dominated the half hour question time.

It followed Mr Blair's meetings with EU leaders in a 48-hour diplomatic tour.

Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith claimed French president Jacques Chirac had scored a victory as the rebate row has diverted attention from France's rejection of the European constitution.

The EU commission president meanwhile called for a pause in the ratification of the EU constitution after it was rejected by the French and Dutch.

Jose Manuel Barroso said it was not possible to say the constitution was dead but he advised prudence while EU leaders concentrated on issues like economic growth and employment.

On Wednesday the UK prime minister continued to prepare for this week's European summit following his visits to Russia, Germany and Luxembourg.

The last part of that tour was talks in Paris with Mr Chirac, which Mr Blair described as amicable, albeit with no sign of agreement on the rebate and the EU's overall spending priorities.

He said: "I think it is difficult to see these differences being bridged, but of course we continue to talk to people including the presidency about it."

Mr Blair suggested there was a "change of mood" on the way forward for Europe after the Dutch and French "No" votes on the European constitution.

He said the process for ratifying the treaty should be put on hold for months to allow a "pause for reflection".

The dispute over farm subsidies comes as a House of Lords inquiry says European farm funding should be targeted towards the new, less developed EU states.

The peers' plans would mean phasing out all direct farm subsidies by 2013 and focusing on help for farmers whose work needs modernising.

The committee urges a timetable for phasing out the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides subsidies to guarantee prices within the EU.

Committee chairman Lord Renton of Mount Harry said the amount of direct funds available to farmers had not changed despite the number of farmers in the EU soaring when 10 states joined the union last year.

"The CAP is near breaking point and this tension will increase when the EU grows to 27, or even 28 or 29 member states," he said.

"Drastic changes to the CAP are necessary if the European countryside is to remain a beautiful, productive home for working families."

Lord Renton said farmers in new member states needed help to modernise and restructure their antiquated farms.

"This should be provided for through a rural development policy, which is independent of agricultural objectives," he said.

"But direct payments to farmers should be phased out from 2013. Such payments should only be seen as transitional tools to prepare farmers for a market-focused future for European agriculture."