JACK STRAW will struggle to win support for the proposed European Union budget at a meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels today.

Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, revealed its proposals on Monday but has been left isolated on the issue. Downing Street still hopes that the proposals will form the basis of a deal on the EU’s seven-year budget.

Failure at a summit of European leaders next week would cast a shadow over Tony Blair’s presidency. The Prime Minister has been criticised by the Conservatives for “surrendering” £800 million a year of the British rebate without securing any compensating cut in farm spending. However, the draft budget was attacked elsewhere in Europe for being too “pro-British” and for including a € 14 billion (£9.5 billion) cut in aid to new members from Eastern Europe.

Britain proposed cutting the EU’s budget for 2007-13 by €24.7 billion, from the €871 billion previously proposed to €846 billion. The European Commission accused Britain of fuelling Euroscepticism and damaging the credibility of the process of enlargement.

“It is a question of confidence in the whole EU,” said a spokesman for José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President. He accused Mr Blair of trying to do Europe on the cheap. Despite Britain offering to slice £5.6 billion off its rebate over the next seven years, the size of the rebate will still grow, but at a slower rate than it would otherwise have done. However, Britain’s net contribution would increase from €39 billion over the last budget period to €58 billion between 2007 and 2013, a 49 per cent increase, largely to pay for enlargement.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said: “We have to put our money where our mouth is, and that means we do have to pay our contribution to the costs of enlargement.”

But Britain’s Eastern European allies expressed dismay. Ferenc Gyurcsany, the Hungarian Prime Minister, said that he had “fundamental objections” to the budget.

President Chirac of France telephoned Mr Blair yesterday, urging him to come up with new ideas. Pedro Solbes, the Spanish Finance Minister, described the British plan as “a wonderful compromise — for the United Kingdom”.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, said that it failed to modernise the EU budget, and showed a Union “in which one takes from the poorest to give to the richest”.