Chancellor George Osborne is to argue the UK's case against paying the EU an extra £1.7bn at a meeting of European finance ministers.
Prime Minister David Cameron is refusing to pay the full surcharge and will not hand over any money by the 1 December deadline.
A senior EU official has warned of opening a 'Pandora's Box' if the surcharge is not paid.
A final agreement is not expected to be reached at Friday's Brussels meeting.
On Thursday, new European Commissioner Lord Hill called for a period of calm, while Treasury sources said Mr Osborne would continue to demand a cut in the size of the bill.
He is expected to also press for any payment to be delayed or phased in.
'Practical solution'
The surcharge follows an annual review of the economic performance of EU member states since 1995, which showed Britain had done better than previously thought.
Elements of the black economy - such as drugs and prostitution - have been included in the calculations for the first time.
Last month, David Cameron reacted angrily to the bill presented to the government by the EU for £1.7bn (2.1bn euros).
Italy, Greece and Cyprus were also asked to make extra contributions, while France and Germany are set for refunds.
Lord Hill told the BBC: 'It seems to me that this is one of those classic examples you get from time to time, where something that a group of people think are technical matters suddenly, and in this case for perfectly understandable reasons, become highly political.
'The sensible thing now is to try to calm the situation down, and to look at the facts, and to look at a practical solution to the challenges that various member states face.'
The former leader of the House of Lords, who was appointed as European Commissioner for financial services last month, said the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), would go some way to finding a 'practical solution'.
A referendum on EU membership has been promised by the prime minister if the Conservatives win a majority at the next general election.
Speaking on the wider issue of whether the UK should remain in the union, Lord Hill said he hoped the country would decide to do so.
'My view is that on the back of a reform process, Britain would want to choose to stay in the EU,' he said.
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Labour leader Ed Miliband accused Mr Cameron of 'weasel words' over Europe as he challenged him over his support for EU membership.
At a press briefing in Brussels last week, the European Commissioner for Budgets, Jacek Dominik, said: 'We all agree on the methodology and the elements that are included in the contributions and we simply apply them.
'Never in the past was there a situation that such a decision was changed and implementation regulations have been changed because one of the member states has contested and... it would be extremely difficult to do it.'
He added that 'if you open this act for future negotiations you open up a Pandora's box'.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 7, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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