Gordon Brown's call for an international summit to discuss reform of the failing global financial system was backed by the G8 last night.

Alongside the conference, expected to take place in New York before the end of the year, the group also pledged to restart stalled negotiations over a world trade deal.

Attending a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels, the Prime Minister welcomed the announcements. He said: "I believe people now recognise that the last thing that can happen over the next few months is a return to protectionism."

The Prime Minister said the whole world had been damaged by a "shadow banking system" in recent years, which operated below the radar of governments. He insisted there had been "unacceptable" behaviour in the financial sector, and action now had to be taken on a "global level".

Mr Brown played down his own role in co-ordinating the response to the financial crisis, which has led to him being described as a "superhero".

Asked if he was revelling in that tag, he replied: "I don't know, because people have to judge over a period of time what job people are doing. My undivided attention is on trying to get this sorted out."

The international backing for the super-summit - billed as the modern version of the Bretton Woods conference which shaped the post-war financial system - will be seen as a further boost to his standing.

The latest gathering in Brussels has seen him heaped with praise after the US and Eurozone signed up to the blueprint for stabilising markets, by part-nationalising banks and guaranteeing lending between them.

The statement from the G8, also signed by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, said their "immediate focus" is on "stabilising markets and restoring confidence".

But it added: "Changes to the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world's financial sectors are needed to remedy deficiencies exposed by the current crisis. We look forward to a leaders' meeting in the near future to adopt an agenda for reforms to meet the challenges of the 21st century."

Officials have noted that Nicolas Sarkozy has been unhappy with the degree of praise being lavished on Mr Brown. And signs of tensions between the two emerged into the public arena last night.

Mr Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU presidency, issued his own separate blueprint for overhauling the international financial system.

In his introduction to a session on the crisis, he stressed that he called for fundamental reforms before the recent turmoil on international markets. "I said this to the UN General Assembly in New York in September," Mr Sarkozy insisted. "We need a new Bretton Woods."

He also claimed ownership of the banking rescue plan for the EU, saying: "For the first time, it is plans worked out in the European Union which have inspired the measures taken in other countries.

"Europe has shown leadership in dealing with the crisis and I welcome this."