David Cameron has hailed efforts to limit the rise on the EU's budget to 2.9 per cent as the first "vital step" in ensuring the EU gets a grip on its finances.
After rallying leaders from across Europe, the Prime Minister secured support from 12 heads of government, including from France, Germany and the Netherlands, for a block on the proposed six per cent rise MEPs and bureaucrats has wished for.
Speaking in Brussels, the Prime Minister said: "The 2011 budget was not on the agenda for this Council. We put it on the agenda, we persuaded other countries to reject that six per cent increase. Britain has made a real difference."
He added: "I'm absolutely clear that Britain's national interest and our highest priority in Europe must lie in protecting British taxpayers from reckless spending in Europe."
"At a time when we are making painful decisions at home to put our economy back on track I will not allow Brussels to derail us."