The President of the EU Council, Herman van Rompuy, is due to hold talks with David Cameron in Downing Street this afternoon, amid disagreements about a proposed increase in the EU's budget.

The European Commission wants an extra 4.8%, but Mr Cameron has threatened to veto any increase above inflation.

Mr van Rompuy's adviser, Richard Corbett, told Today presenter John Humphrys that it is understandable that Mr Cameron is opposed to paying more: "He's right to defend the British interest as the government of the day sees it, just as the governments of every other country do likewise."

"The difficulty in this case is that you've got to get unanimous agreement - every single member state has to agree - and then it has to be approved by the European Parliament as well, so it is going to be extraordinarily difficult," he went on to explain.

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