EU: Britain looks set to make a new EU budget proposal tomorrow in an effort to find an agreement at the European Council summit later this week.
However, British foreign secretary Jack Straw offered no details on the new budget package yesterday while attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Asked if he expected a deal at the summit, Mr Straw said: "I can't say . . . We're not in for a deal at any price."
Britain, which holds the current EU presidency, is coming under pressure from other member states and the European Commission to pay more into the European Union's budget.
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso wrote yesterday to Tony Blair urging him to revamp existing proposals, raise overall EU spending and offer deeper and permanent cuts to its annual rebate from the EU budget. However, British officials warn there is little room for compromise. Tony Blair has already been vilified by some for proposing to pay an extra €8 billion into the 2007-2013 budget to help pay for EU enlargement while reducing the rebate.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers failed to agree a deal to offer the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia full EU candidate status at the meeting yesterday.