Brown rules out second term of Mandelson as EU trade chief

BRUSSELS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Peter Mandelson will not stay as the European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner for a second term, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

"Peter Mandelson has said he does not want to become the next commissioner, that he wants to do only one term," Brown told reporters on the sidelines of an EU summit, which kicked off here Thursday.

Brown said Mandelson wants to do something else, without giving indication of what his next job might be.

Mandelson was said to have been in tense relations with Brown since he was once a close ally of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who stepped down last June and handed over his job to Brown.

It was Blair who made Mandelson EU Trade Commissioner in 2004. At present, each EU member state appoints one member to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

Mandelson said one year ago he would not seek a second term in the Commission after his five-year mandate expires in 2009.

But it was reported that Brown recently asked Mandelson about the possibility of staying on, which Mandelson agreed to rethink about.

Brown praised Mandelson's job as the EU trade chief, who was dubbed as a leading trade liberalist within the Commission.

"I think it's important to say that Peter Mandelson has done a great job as commissioner and of course it is his wish to do something else," he said.