EU considered freezing Britain out of budget deal - Telegraph.co.uk

Mr Lewandowski said some net EU budget contributors - thought to include Britain, Germany and the Netherlands - had called in November for further cuts of about €30bn to reach a deal, but others demurred, leading to the suspension.

"I think this is too much," he said of the 30 billion figure during a speech at the European Policy Centre, a think-tank.

"I do believe we are very close to the deal, but we cannot go too deep, because with every billion of cuts we will lose several votes in the European Parliament needed to have a final deal."

On Monday, the president of the European Parliament warned that the deeper the cuts are compared to the Commission's original proposal, the greater the chance of a no vote by parliament which would mean a renegotiation of the whole budget.

Ahead of the next summit, officials said talks are ongoing between Van Rompuy and EU capitals to define the overall shape of a deal before leaders arrive at that meeting.

Sources close to the talks said the final deal would likely see further cuts of about €20bn beyond Van Rompuy's compromise, giving a limit of about €950bn for EU spending commitments over seven years.

Mr Lewandowski said Mr Cameron's promise this week to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017 would not prevent a deal that is supported by Britain.

"This is a long-term financial commitment until 2020, but even with a referendum in 2017, I think we cannot expect an immediate (British) exit even in the worst scenario," he said.

The Commission is working on ways to limit further cuts to the overall budget while still allowing Cameron to paint the result as a victory for Britain.

EU officials said one option was to keep a tight rein on future EU payment ceilings - forecasts for actual EU spending - as opposed to commitment ceilings, which define legal pledges to fund future projects that do not always materialise.

It is the difference between what countries might have to pay and what they actually pay, which is always less.

EU budget negotiations focus on commitment figures, while Britain is more concerned with payments, and officials are hoping to take advantage of flexibility in fixing payment levels on the basis of agreed commitments to keep the total down.

"It's going to be creative," Lewandowski said. "I cannot say now precisely how it is feasible, but I do believe that Mr Cameron could proclaim that the UK has had a dominant influence over the volume of the future European budget."