BRUSSELS - EUROPEAN Union leaders reached a unanimous agreement on an ambitious climate change package at the end of a two-day summit in Brussels on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

'It is quite historic what has happened here,' summit chairman Mr Sarkozy told a press conference.

'No continent has given itself such binding rules that we have adopted with unanimity.'

The EU's climate-energy package, the '20-20-20' deal, seeks to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, make 20 per cent energy savings and bring renewable energy sources up to 20 per cent of total energy use.

Mr Sarkozy said that the targets had not been watered down during the negotiations amid calls by several states for amendments to the initial package at a time of recession.

'The objectives remain the same,' said Mr Sarkozy. 'No way can the (economic) crisis be used as an excuse not to move on the environment.' European Commission president Jose Manuel Baroso said the agreement showed that the 27-nation bloc was serious about tackling global warming.

'These are the most ambitious proposals anywhere in the world,' he said.

'Europe has today passed its credibility test. We mean business when we talk about climate.' Mr Baroso said the recent election of Barack Obama as US president offered a chance for a joint effort between Europe and the world's biggest economy to combat global warming.

'We are asking him to join Europe and with us lead this global effort,' he said. -- AFP