European Commissioner Mr Chris Patten today criticised Australia's decision to seek a new process to control greenhouse gas emissions after the United States abandoned the Kyoto protocol.
Australian Environment Minister Mr Robert Hill said the world community needed to start a new process for cutting global greenhouse gases following last month's decision by Washington to reject the 1997 Kyoto treaty on global warming.
But Mr Patten said the EU did not accept Australia's argument. "Certainly in Europe I don't think that would be acceptable to our electorates.
"I think our electorates would much prefer us to say, well, we'll do what we can to ensure that at least on our part the protocol is ratified by the time of the conference on sustainable development in 2002," he said.
He said the global community should continue to negotiate with the US in an effort to find an agreement to bind them in to emissions reductions.
The US is the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Australia's conservative Prime Minister Mr John Howard has said he shares the US views on Kyoto's shortcomings but has written to Mr Bush to stress the importance of a global solution.