End in sight for Mandelson's EU job

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Mr Brown said Mr Mandelson had made clear he would not be standing again, adding: "It is his wish to do something else."

The Prime Minister was speaking after a fresh flurry of speculation that Mr Mandelson - who had already announced he would not seek another five years in office - had changed his mind.

His term as EU trade commissioner expires next October and the UK has to nominate his replacement.

Earlier, a spokesman for Mr Mandelson said the commissioner and the prime minister knew each other's minds on the matter.

Mr Brown, speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, said: "Peter Mandelson has said he doesn't want to become the next commissioner, that he wants to do only one term - but Peter Mandelson has done a great job as commissioner.

"He's leading the European negotiations to get a trade agreement and I will be talking to him very soon about how we can move that forward."

The two men were said to have had a long-running feud after Mr Mandelson backed Tony Blair for the Labour leadership in 1994.

But Mr Brown's spokesman insisted their relationship was now "constructive".

A spokesman for Mr Mandelson, said: "Peter is happy with the discussion he had with Gordon Brown on this subject. "He explained the context of his original remarks. They know each other's minds."