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David Cameron, UK PM: "These are very important negotiations"
David Cameron has vowed to resist any increase in the EU's long-term budget as he arrived in Brussels for talks with other European leaders.
The UK prime minister said he was "not happy at all" with calls for a rise in spending between 2014 and 2020.
But he is seeking to build alliances with other leaders ahead of what is likely to be two days of intense talks.
Germany is among the UK's main allies, but other nations support the European Commission's call for higher spending.
France objects to proposed cuts in agriculture, while countries in Central and Eastern Europe oppose cuts to funding to improve infrastructure in poorer areas.
Mr Cameron has vowed to push for a freeze in the EU's budget, something he says has never been achieved before, and he has threatened to use Britain's veto to block any deal that is "bad for Britain".
'Good deal'But he is under pressure from many of his own MPs and the opposition Labour Party to go even further and hold out for a real-terms cut.
He faces the prospect of defeat in the House of Commons when MPs vote, in about a year's time, on ratifying any deal reached in Brussels.
David Cameron wants Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, to be in no doubt that unless the EU budget is frozen in real terms and Britain's rebate is maintained there will be no deal at this summit
But if member states fail to reach a deal by March or April, the 2013 budget will continue into 2014 on a month-by-month basis, meaning the UK could end up with an EU budget higher than that which Mr Cameron is currently seeking.
Speaking to reporters as he arrived in Brussels, Mr Cameron said: "These are very important negotiations.
"Clearly at a time when we are making difficult decisions at home over public spending it would be quite wrong, it is quite wrong, for there to be proposals for this increased extra spending in the EU.
"So we are going to be negotiating very hard for a good deal for Britain's taxpayers and Europe's taxpayers and to keep the British rebate."
The EU's 27 member states must set a ceiling for what they are prepared to spend in total over the 2014-20 period, as well as discuss how much will be set aside for specific areas such as business, agriculture and security.
The European Commission's proposed budget for 2014-20 would see a 5% increase in spending on the current seven-year period, with a ceiling of 1,033 billion euros (£831bn).
- The UK is one of 12 EU members that make a net contribution to the EU budget - meaning it pays in more than it gets back in EU funding.
- But there are different figures for what the UK's net contribution is depending on how it is calculated.
- The EU financial year runs from January to December. The Treasury says that in 2011 the UK net contribution to the EU budget was £8.1bn. But for the UK financial year, running from April 2010 to March 2011, the Treasury says the contribution was £8.91bn.
- The European Commission calculates the UK's contribution in a different way. In 2011 it says the UK's net contribution was 7.25bn euros (£5.85bn; $9.4bn).
The UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands are among those who have said such a rise would be unacceptable at a time of austerity across the continent.
The UK has described a separate proposal from European Council President Herman van Rompuy for a 973 billion euro (£782bn) ceiling as a step in the right direction.
But the UK believes that further cuts, potentially of up to 80bn euros, can be achieved, as Mr Van Rompuy's plan anticipates substantial increases in certain areas such as infrastructure spending.
Mr Cameron has argued that any above-inflation rise would be unjustified when many countries are cutting spending at home.
MPs voted last month to back a real-terms cut in spending.
But UK officials have acknowledged this will be difficult to achieve given many of the EU's poorer nations - unlike the UK, Germany and France - are net beneficiaries of the budget and unlikely to countenance any cuts.
'British voice'Countries' individual contributions are not up for discussion at the summit, but Mr Cameron has also vowed to defend the UK's multi-billion pound rebate first secured by the Thatcher government in the 1980s.
The rebate, which was meant to reflect the fact that the UK had a smaller agricultural sector than other nations at a time when most EU money went to farmers, is viewed as unfair by some member states.
Britain could be put under pressure to compromise elsewhere if it wants to keep the rebate, European Commission sources say.
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Who wants what from the EU budget deal?
Mr Van Rompuy is expected to hold one-on-one meetings with EU leaders on Thursday to establish what their "red lines" are ahead of general negotiations, which officials admit could slip into Saturday or even Sunday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is not sure the summit will come up with a "definitive deal" and EU leaders may have to reconvene early in the new year.
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the UK was looking for "just common sense," adding that if the opportunity arose to cut the budget, the UK would seize it.
But UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who wants Britain to leave the EU, said Mr Cameron would be unable to get a "good deal" for the UK and that the European Commission and MEPs believed the state could "create wealth".
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