BRUSSELS, Dec. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Champagne might not be served at Justus Lipsius on Friday when European leaders conclude their two-day summit, quite possibly without reaching a deal over the bloc's 2007-13 budget.

    In a revised proposal presented on the eve of the summit, Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), refused to yield any further on its annual rebate from EU coffers, immediately receiving an EU-wide rejection.

    "It is not satisfactory, it is simply not enough," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

    "Europe's credibility is severely damaged when some do not put their money where their mouth is," he said.

    For French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, the draft budget could not be the basis for a deal. Both Douste-Blazy and his Polish counterpart, Stefan Meller, said that the proposal was unfair for poor EU member states.

    Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz threatened to veto the proposal should it stand as it was.

    Under the revised proposal, total expenditure for 2007-13 would be 849.3 billion euros (1.019 trillion U.S. dollars), an increase of just 2.5 billion euros (3 billion dollars) over the initial proposal last week.

    It included sweeteners for several countries but offered no new concessions over Britain's multi-billion euro rebate every year.

    The initial proposal last week suggested a cut of 8 billion euros (9.6 billion dollars) of British rebates over seven years. Despite the proposed cut, Britain's rebate will grow from 5.3 billion euros (6.4 billion dollars) in 2004 to about 7.7 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars) a year on average in the 2007-13 period, according to calculations of the European Commission.

    London insists that any further concessions on its rebate must be linked to a commitment to reform the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP), of which France is the major beneficiary.

    Calling the British rebate an "historic anomaly," Douste-Blazy refuted that London is not assuming its proper part of the financial burden.

    The same disputes balked the Luxembourg package in June when Britain refused to give up its annual rebate while France stayed vehemently against cuts in farm subsidies, which suck up 40 percent of the EU annual budget.

    With Britain and France preparing for another showdown round, grueling negotiations are ahead for the EU leaders in the upcoming summit.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair now faces an uphill battle to broker a deal at the summit. Constrained by the demand of rich western members to contribute less, he is also pressed by the hope of poor eastern members for more development aid.

    Poland's Europe minister Jaroslav Pietras said Poland and other central and east European nations must be supported in their efforts to bridge the development gap between them and wealthier states.

    "It is not just a fight for money, it is a fight over principles under which the Union will be led," he said.

    The initial British proposal suggested a cut of 14 billion euros (16.8 billion dollars) in aid for the new EU members, but just 2 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars) of cuts to farm subsidies compared with the failed June package.

    The latest proposal restored some of the aid funding but not to the levels pledged under the Luxembourg plan, which Poland insists is the "benchmark" for budget talks.

    Agreement at the upcoming summit is deemed crucial for the credibility of the post-enlargement EU and citizens' confidence init, especially after its Constitution had been vetoed in referendums in France and the Netherlands.

    Failure to strike a deal would not only hinder development in the 10 Eastern European countries which joined the EU last year, but also jeopardize the further enlargement of the bloc. The budget was designed for 27 member states -- Romania and Bulgaria are expected to join in 2007.

    Barroso commented that it would be impossible to accommodate the two countries under the British proposal.

    But Jonathan Allen, who presented the British proposal on Wednesday, said: "There is very little room for negotiation...We will see no better deal this week or next year." Enditem