British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday became the latest European leader to push for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by the European Union.

Meanwhile, other EU member states were reluctant to come on board as key UN climate talks began in Copenhagen.

Brown told The Guardian newspaper that he wanted to see the EU cut emissions by 30 percent by 2020, up from the 20 percent the 27-nation bloc already has committed to.

"We've got to make countries recognize that they have to be as ambitious as they say they want to be... I want to create a situation in which the European Union is persuaded to go to 30 percent," Brown said.

In a show of the division within the bloc, the Swedish EU presidency said Monday that a deeper EU emissions cut would depend on other nations committing to additional reductions.

"We won't achieve it until other politicians deliver more ambitious targets on the table to make sure that EU can deliver what is needed," said Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2009)