A day after his appeal for an end to feuding with Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson risked aggravating his strained relationship with the chancellor by calling for Britain to set a target date for euro membership.

In an interview with Le Monde on Monday, the new EU trade commissioner said there was "no prospect" of British membership in the short term.

But he added that "I hope the British government can set a target date for entry and that we can head into the euro with the agreement of the British people in a referendum".

He also said that Britain should "combine its recent [economic] success with a touch of humility".