Osborne confident Britain can get EU bill reduced

George Osborne has said that Britain is confident of seeing its €2.1bn (£1.6bn) bill from the European Union (EU) reduced.

"I am confident that we can get this changed, but it is the beginning of the conversation," the chancellor told ITV News at a summit in Berlin on Wednesday.

"A week ago we were just expected to pay up. People now understand there is a proper conversation to be had."

European finance ministers will meet in Brussels next week to discuss the bill, which Britain has described as “unacceptable”.

Earlier this week, David Cameron categorically ruled out meeting the EU’s demands, claiming Brussels officials had “ambushed” him with an unacceptable request and that Britain would not pay “anything like” the amount asked by 1 December.

The prime minister has promised a referendum on Britain’s EU membership in 2017 if he wins the general election in May 2015 but he’s coming under increasing pressure from the UK Independence Party to harden his stance over Europe.

Cameron said the bill made it harder to make the case to keep Britain in Europe, even though he admitted that he favoured the prospect of Britain remaining in a reformed EU.

Britain was hit with the higher bill because its economy has rebounded, according to data provided by the Office for National Statistics and Osborne said he had allies for his cause, including the Dutch and the Italians, who were also surprised by the way the bill was presented.