British Prime Minister Tony Blair could stay in power for three more years to help steer the European Union out of the crisis over the EU draft constitution, ally Peter Mandelson said Sunday.

Mandelson, now Britain's EU commissioner, said in remarks published by Britain's domestic Press Association that Blair now has a "fresh calling" to deal with the crisis after French and Dutch voters rejected the constitution.

It had been widely expected that Blair would stand down after Britain's referendum on the constitutional treaty, due to take place early next year, to make way for his powerful finance minister Gordon Brown.

However, in the wake of the French and Dutch "no" votes, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will announce Monday that Britain's referendum plans are to be frozen.

Mandelson said Blair could now play a leading role in resolving the EU crisis.

"I don't think what's happened in Europe this week will have any direct impact whatsoever. If anything, it gives him a fresh calling," he said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby program.

"What he's got to do is help other European member states and heads of government come to terms with what's happened, understand, realize how Europe's got to move to a different place if it's going to overcome that malaise about Europe that exists amongst the public," he said.

"I think he can help do that, so I think that he's got a great contribution to make," he said in the interview, part of which was published by the Press Association.

"I hope that as part of his legacy when eventually he does step down as prime minister towards the end of this parliament, he will be able to look back on the next two to three years and say 'I helped Europe change and mend its direction, re-build public confidence and trust in the European project in a way that seems relevant to us and our daily lives' and that's what I'd like to see him do."

His comments are likely to infuriate Brown, Blair's long-time rival.

Although Blair has said that he intends to serve a full third term after he and his Labour Party won a third straight term in office in elections last month, most members of parliament expect him to stand down long before then.

The Sunday Telegraph reported, however, that Blair was giving up on his EU dream.

One of his closest allies, who was not named, told the newspaper that Blair no longer believed that putting Britain at the heart of Europe could be his legacy.

"Europe is back to the drawing board. Africa will become more important," he was quoted as saying.

Blair assumes the six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1, just days before he hosts the G8 summit of the world's leading industrial nations, where he will make a pitch for ending poverty in Africa.