Jiri Paroubek, the leader of the Social Democrats in the Czech Parliament, who called Tuesday’s vote of no confidence against Mr. Topolanek, accused him of making an undiplomatic gaffe. “In my view, it is extremely impolite and undiplomatic toward President Obama, who we will host in less than two weeks’ time,” he said.

Europeans themselves are well aware of the leadership problem, having painfully negotiated a new constitution, which European voters rejected. They then forged the Lisbon Treaty, which will create a permanent European president and foreign minister, and which was supposed to go into effect on Jan. 1. But the Lisbon Treaty, which requires the votes of all member states, was rejected by Irish voters last June, giving the Czechs their turn in the six-month rotating presidency.

While the Irish are expected to vote again in the fall, Mr. Topolanek’s own government has not ratified the treaty, either. Even though he is likely to remain in office through June, when the Czech presidency of the union ends, his government’s defeat will make it harder to ratify the treaty. The Irish foreign minister, Micheal Martin, said in Dublin that the Czech problems would make Ireland’s effort to ratify “a bit more complex.”

Mr. Topolanek’s remarks were considered impolitic, with the German leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, telling him, “You have not understood what the task of the E.U. presidency is,” and describing his comments as “not the level on which the E.U. ought to be operating with the United States.”

A Czech spokesman said that Mr. Topolanek meant to say that the European Union would be on the way to hell if it increased its own spending too much, rather than predicting that the United States was doomed.

Mr. Topolanek is not alone in his concern that Mr. Obama’s stimulus package, which will push the United States budget deficit this year to 10 percent or more of gross domestic product, will put a huge strain on global financial markets. German officials have also criticized the evolving American program, and many other European nations have declined to create fiscal stimulus programs anywhere near as large as that of the United States, arguing that too much extra money will lead quickly to inflation.

There are also disagreements between the United States and the Europeans about how much emphasis to place on fiscal stimulus as opposed to enhanced regulation of finance and tax havens. Even so, participants have been making progress on a communiqué that will signal a rough consensus on principles in London on April 2, officials from both sides say.