Gordon Brown will continue his growing rapprochement with Peter Mandelson in a private meeting in Brussels today when the Prime Minister finally accepts an invitation issued last summer to meet the EU’s top brass.

Diplomats say that the pair – who barely spoke for a decade after Mr Mandelson sided with Tony Blair for the Labour leadership – have been driven closer by a common aim to steer Europe’s direction away from the vision of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Brown’s visit will include lunch with leading EU officials including Neelie Kroes, the Dutch competition commissioner in charge of deciding if the Government’s intervention in Northern Rock is lawful or breaks tough rules on state aid.

The Prime Minister will be keen to mend fences in Brussels, where some have taken offence at the fact it has taken him almost seven months to find time in his diary to visit the European Commission.

Mr Sarkozy burst onto the EU stage just seven days after assuming the French presidency last May, while Angela Merkel came to Brussels the day after she was sworn in as German Chancellor in November 2005.

Mr Brown also has some repair work to do on his European reputation after his late arrival at the signing ceremony for the Lisbon Treaty in December, which was seen as rude by some EU leaders.

His meeting with Mr Mandelson follows alarm at suggestions from Paris that protectionist trade and carbon tariffs are needed at a time when the British commissioner is trying to relax controls as part of last-ditch talks to broker a world trade deal.

There is also concern at Mr Sarkozy’s attack on the primacy of competition in the EU’s internal market and criticism of the independence of the European Central Bank.

With France due to take over the rotating EU presidency in June, and other plans up Mr Sarkozy’s sleeve such as developing the EU’s defence force, observers believe there is a need for Mr Brown to take his place on the European stage as a counterweight to the hyperactive French president.

“Although it is long overdue, this visit is welcome because there is market for substantial British input into debates on a range of issues,” one EU official said yesterday.

“He needs to act as a counter-balance to others who have embraced European issues energetically and occupied this ground for many months.

The feud between Mr Mandelson and Mr Brown is one of the longest running in British politics, but they have been speaking more regularly on the phone, according to sources in London and Brussels. Relations seem to have improved considerably from last summer, when Mr Mandelson’s announcement that he would not serve another term as EU trade commissioner was seen as a pre-emptive strike to deny Mr Brown the pleasure of sacking him.

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: “Having Peter Mandelson in the European Commission promoting free trade and free markets, and an outward-looking EU, is clearly in the British interest and it makes sense that they should have a good working relationship.”

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