British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has signalled he intends to take a tougher approach this week in negotiations on the European Union's budget.
Only weeks ago , the government was defeated in a parliamentary vote as rebels and Labour demanded the prime minister take a harder line on Europe and demand a cut in the budget.
David Cameron believes a deal on the EU's budget can be struck at a summit in Brussels this week after he spoke to six European leaders, his spokeswoman said on Monday.
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Over the weekend, Cameron spoke by telephone to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande as well as the leaders of Sweden, Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands to discuss the budget negotiations.
He is expected to speak to more leaders this week before the summit starting on Thursday.
"The PM has been hitting the phone this weekend speaking to several European partners as we continue to work constructively to find a deal on the budget," Cameron's spokeswoman told reporters.
"In terms of the negotiations, we recognise that they are going to be tough," she added.
"And as we have been saying all along there are many priorities around the table.
"But there are good ideas of where we can do more to rein in spending that we have not fully explored, for example in reducing administrative spending.
"The prime minister believes that we can work through these details to get the right deal at this week's summit and we are ready to do that."
Cameron has said Britain is prepared to veto a new seven-year EU budget which increases spending in real terms, putting him on collision course with many of his European counterparts who back a hike in spending.
