A two-day summit of European leaders is seeing David Cameron bid to undermine the developing 'pact for the euro', according to reports.
The prime minister has claimed support from France and Germany for a more restrained EU budget for the next six-year tranche of funding.
Britain will fight to win guarantees that that an EU bailout fund designed for natural disasters will not be used to prop up the eurozone today.
Fears of another sovereign debt crisis among eurozone members are thought to be weakening Ireland's resolve to resist a bailout.
Danny Alexander has expressed relief at the UK not being in the euro during the economic crisis.
Britain is odds-on to join the euro by 2014, according to bookmakers.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said he believes the "people who matter" in Britain are considering a renewed drive to join the euro.
The UK Treasury has failed to convince EU officials to allow the chancellor to claw back some of the EU rebate sacrificed by the Prime Minister.
Most British business leaders think the burden of EU regulations outweighs the benefits of the single market, a new survey finds.
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