European Union (EU) environment ministers have agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 1990 levels provided that other developed countries will do the same.

In the absence of an international agreement, the EU alone will cut emissions by 20 percent, said the ministers, who met on Tuesday in Brussels.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas welcomed the ministers' decisions.

"The (EU) Council's position is an affirmation of the EU's leadership and determination to prevent climate change from reaching dangerous levels," he said in a statement.

"But we can only succeed if the international community moves urgently to strike a comprehensive agreement to reduce global emissions after 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol expires)."

The environment ministers agreed on "a differentiated approach" to the contributions of the EU member states and asked the European Commission to study how exactly to share the burden of cutting greenhouse gas emissions among the 27 EU member states.