Keep 'calm' about the European Union's £1.7bn bill, says Lord Hill Britain's new European Commissioner tries to cool 'political temperature' Urges Prime Minister to 'look and the facts' and seek 'practical' solution Says question of EU membership is 'a boil that needs to be lanced' David Cameron has condemned the 'appalling' behaviour by the EU Chancellor George Osborne to use talks in Brussels to challenge demand David Cameron must calm down about the European Union's demand for an extra £1.7billion, his new man in Brussels has warned. Lord Hill, Britain's new European Commissioner, urged the Prime Minister to 'look at the facts' to cool the 'political temperature'. Mr Cameron has warned the EU's 'appalling' behaviour has pushed Britain closer to leaving the EU, accusing bureaucrats of 'thumping' Britain with a bill which must be paid by December 1. Lord Hill, Britain's new European Commissioner, urged the Prime Minister to 'look at the facts' to cool the 'political temperature' over the row about the shock £1.7billion bill But today Lord Hill, who was appointed by Mr Cameron in the summer, issued a plea for calm and insisted it was time to look for a 'practical' solution. He added that the question over Britain's membership of the EU is at a 'lively stage' and is a 'boil that needs to be lanced. 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 EU Commissioner Lord Hill Lord Hill, the EU commissioner for financial services, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: '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. He added: 'These things happen... the political temperature goes up and then it goes down again.' Lord Hill said his job means he is required to act in the interests of all 28 member states, not just Britain. Britain faces by far the biggest surcharge and has been seeking allies among other EU states for a rethink of the contributions. Chancellor George Osborne will use a meeting in Brussels tomorrow to call for a rethink, but is likely to face stiff resistance from states which gain, including France, which is in line for a billion euro (£788.7 million) rebate, and Germany, which stands to receive 779 million euro (£614 million). Lord Hill said Brussels needs to do a 'smaller number of bigger things better' instead of 'intruding' into areas of national life. He told the programme: 'My view is that on the back of a reform process Britain would want to choose to stay in the EU. 'Obviously that's a choice for the people of Britain, there's democratic process to go through if we have that referendum. But I think it is good to address that question, I think there is a boil that needs to be lanced. He added: 'We have a tendency in Britain to think of all these issues as though they only affect Britain, British exceptionalism, if I can call it that. 'The fact is, when I sit here and look across the EU and what's happening in other countries, many other countries have very similar debates.' Prime Minister David Cameron has refused to pay the £1.7billion bill by December 1, accusing the EU of 'appalling' behaviour Jean-Claude Juncker, the new Commission President, this week hit out the Prime Minister's behaviour. Mr Juncker responded: 'I have to tell my good friend Matteo Renzi that I am not the chairman of a gang of bureaucrats...