<START> EU surcharge: UK will only pay back half of £1.7bn bill Under the agreement Britain will pay £850m, with no money handed over before the general election in May. The bill will be paid in two instalments in the second half of the year. Originally the European Commission had asked for £1.7bn by December 1 following a reassessment of the state of the UK economy. Mr Osborne tweeted: "I've had intensive & constructive discussions with other countries & Commission. EU rules will be changed forever so this never happens again. The unexpected demand had provoked government fury and David Cameron insisted that Britain would not pay "anything like" that amount. The deal, which was reached at a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Brussels, should take much of the political sting out of the issue. However, Tory Eurosceptics are likely to demand that Britain does not pay a single penny of the Commission surcharge.