posted on Apr, 20 2011 @ 06:32 AM
A demand for a 4.9% increase in the European Union's annual budget is "completely unacceptable", a UK government source has said.
Ministers would "work with international partners to fight for the best possible deal for the British taxpayer", they told the BBC.
The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, says the rise is needed to fund existing spending commitments.
But the government has called for the budget to be capped in future.
The above-inflation 4.9% increase would take the commission's total funding for 2012 to 132.7bn euros (£117bn).
www.bbc.co.uk...