Meeting in Luxembourg, the 27 EU environment ministers requested the European Commission to present further analyses of the consequences for individual member states of moving beyond the EU's existing 20% CO2 reduction goal for 2020.

The Commission's 2050 roadmap for a low-carbon economy, scheduled for publication next year, "should also inform this analysis of policy options up to 2020," they said.

The debate surrounding upgrading the European Union's target has divided EU member states, as some say that 20% simply represents business as usual as emissions have already fallen by 17% in the downturn. Meanwhile, others say higher goals are a liability in terms of competitiveness unless other major economies adopt similar targets.

Maybe more surprising is that the same contrast is now evident among businesses as well.

Ahead of the meeting, BusinessEurope, which represents EU employers, sent a letter to the Belgian EU Presidency arguing that increasing the EU's emissions reduction target would be "premature and even counterproductive".

But at the same time, 29 major companies issued a joint declaration urging the EU to up its target on emissions cuts to 30% from 1990 levels by 2020, sparking comments that BusinessEurope should not speak for the whole business community when it comes to environmental matters.