British Prime Minister David Cameron talks to the press as he arrives for a European Union leaders summit British Prime Minister David Cameron angered officials and politicians in the European Union in Brussels when he called for a reduction in government expenditure and threatened not to approve the draft budget. European leaders voiced pessimism on reaching a deal on a trillion -euro EU budget, as gruelling talks pushed into a second day with little prospect of bridging bitter divisions.
The summit talks in Brussels were suspended overnight after less than an hour and a half, having already begun hours late on Thursday due to the vast differences on the need for cuts.
The negotiations were scheduled to resume at 1100 GMT on Friday once delegates from the 27 member nations have had time to examine new proposals on the 2014-2020 budget submitted by EU president Herman Van Rompuy.
But with an increasingly eurosceptic Britain threatening to wield its veto, and splits throughout the EU over the level of spending, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that any deal may have to wait.
Cameron, who is under constant pressure from eurosceptics in his Tory party to battle European demands on the British tax payer, had vowed to bring down the budget from a proposed 1.047 trillion euros ($1.347 trillion) to 886 billion euros.
The threat by British Prime Minister David Cameron to wield his veto unless the EU meets his demands for substantial cuts in the proposed budget, weighed heavily on the proceedings, with the bloc\'s poorer nations ready to battle for funds many richer nations want slashed.
\"The room for manoeuvre for Mr Cameron is so small that it is likely he will not agree, that\'s my impression,\" European Parliament President Martin Schulz said.
Britain in particular cherishes the budget rebate obtained by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 on the grounds that London was paying too much into the bloc\'s coffers.