British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday vowed to negotiate "very hard" for a European Union budget that reflects the austerity being implemented nationally, ahead of what is expected to be an acrimonious summit on the 2014-20 spending plan.
"I'm not happy at all," Cameron told reporters in Brussels as he arrived for a meeting with EU president Herman Van Rompuy ahead of the two-day summit.
"Clearly, at a time when we're 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 spending in the EU," he added. "We're going to be negotiating very hard for a good deal for Britain's taxpayers and for Europe's taxpayers."
Cameron also said he would fight to "keep the British rebate," a reduction from EU budget contributions that former premier Margaret Thatcher had secured for Britain in the 1980s after an epic battle with European partners.
Cameron is seen as the biggest obstacle to an agreement on the EU budget at the summit - although nine other member states have also threatened vetoes over various issues, according to a count by eurosceptic group Open Europe.
London has advocated for the most cuts, arguing for a real-terms budget freeze that diplomats say would require about 200 billion euros (257 billion dollars) to be slashed off the 1.09 trillion euros in spending commitments proposed by the European Commission.
As a compromise, Van Rompuy has proposed cutting 80 billion euros off the EU executive's proposal, but the plan has drawn fire from all sides. He is expected to present a new draft after his pre-summit so-called "confessionals" with all of the EU leaders throughout Thursday.
The 2014-20 budget - technically known as the multi-annual financial framework or MFF - will set maximum spending limits, as well as define where the money should go and where it should come from.
Most of the funds flow back into member states for everything from road-building projects to support for farmers.