Postgres Date Format. - Mailing list pgsql-novice

I want to change the way Postgres displays the date.
I know I need to use

SET DATESTYLE TO 'POSTGRES,EUROPEAN';

But it seems that Postgres defaults back to the normal
ISO date after the connection is closed.

I've done this from the psql command line and it works,
but can someone let me know what I should include in a
PHP webpage to do the same?

Cheers! James