BRUSSELS (AP) — Which side of this week's debate on the European Union budget a country takes can depend largely on which side its bread is buttered.

Those that contribute more to the EU than they get back generally want to hold the line on the organization's budget — or even see spending fall. Those who receive more money than they put in tend to support a robust rise, if at all possible — and regard possible cuts with dread.

The leaders of the 27 EU member countries descended on Brussels on Thursday to duke it out over the next two, three or even four days regarding the EU's budget trajectory over the seven years from 2014-2020. And, for whatever reason, the philosophies expressed often correlate closely with the money involved.

Each of the EU's 27 national leaders can veto the budget plan. With such diametrically opposed philosophies — and with real money at stake — whether they will be able to reach a consensus is anybody's guess.

Here's a look at the two main camps:

—Cutters

Many of those countries that contribute more to the EU budget than they take away are fighting increases in spending, claiming it's wasteful, inefficient, and inappropriate to boost the EU's spending when national budgets are being cut.

Leading the would-be budget-cutters is British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose country is, not coincidentally, one of the largest net contributors to the EU budget, second only to Germany.

"At a time when we're making difficult decisions at home over public spending, it would be quite wrong — it is quite wrong — for there to be proposals for this increased, extra spending in the EU," Cameron said Thursday.

A number of other net contributors — Germany, Finland, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands, for example — share more or less the same philosophy. Continued...