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British Prime Minister David Cameron is locked in a new Brussels battle as angry diplomats claim his virulent demands for austerity are blocking a dael on a new budget for the bloc.
Nearly a year after he enraged his European counterparts by vetoing a pact to resolve the eurozone crisis, Mr Cameron wound them up again yesterday.
He is demanding cuts to the perks enjoyed by so-called eurocrats.
British officials insist that other countries including Sweden and Germany largely back Mr Cameron's position for a reduction in the planned trillion-dollar budget for the seven years from 2014-2020.
In the hours before the summit there was even talk of a German-British axis of austerity against France.
But as the summit was suspended overnight, pessimistic European officials said Mr Cameron was hamstrung by the domestic pressures he faces from anti-Europe members of his Conservative party.
