British Prime Minister Tony Blair, under pressure from European Union leaders to give ground over London's cherished budgetary rebate, insisted on Wednesday the payback would stay. France and Germany insist ratification of the referendum should continue across the 25-member EU, despite rejection of the treaty in French and Dutch votes last week. "The UK rebate will remain and we will not negotiate it away -- period," Blair told parliament, asked if it was negotiable, according to Reuters. Luxembourg, holder of the EU's presidency until July 1 when London takes over, has proposed to freeze the rebate at its 1997-2003 level in 2007 and later "set it on a downward path". Blair's spokesman on Wednesday declined to say the rebate was non-negotiable, preferring to call it "wholly justified" because of the current balance of payments in the EU. EU leaders meet in Brussels on June 16-17 and are eager to strike a deal on the bloc's 2007-2013 budget to shore up confidence in the EU given the crisis over the constitution. Britain's defence of its rebate is a major sticking point. Asked about a proposal to freeze the rebate, Blair's spokesman said: "We don't have such a proposal. We have not seen any proposal that is acceptable to us." He said Britain would veto any proposal it didn't like. Britain's gross contributions to the EU's coffers could rise to 14.6 billion pounds by 2007-8, from 12.1 billion pounds this year, according to figures from the Treasury. London wants a deal to scale back farm subsidies that largely benefit France and reform the system of aid to poor regions before making concessions on the rebate, worth about 4.6 billion euros last year, officials say. Blair could still argue he had kept the rebate intact if he accepts a proposal to freeze it at current levels. --More 1800 Local Time 1500 GMT
