The Europeans are drafting their proposal as the United States enters a period of debate over the wisdom of adopting such market-based systems following the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Mr. Obama endorsed a similar system to cap and trade carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, during his election campaign. That system sets a limit on emissions, and those who exceed it must buy or trade permits to meet it.

The main alternative to a cap-and-trade system is a tax on emissions. Many analysts say that would be a more straightforward way of limiting planet-warming gases from industry.

So far, Europe has created the largest single market for trading permits to emit carbon dioxide, while Australia and some groups of American states have begun their own initiatives.

But the European system has also come under fire for doing too little to stop pollution and for creating vast windfall profits for some industries, like coal-burning utilities.

A centrepiece of the commission’s proposals is “strategic bilateral partnerships” with the United States “to create a trans-Atlantic carbon market,” according to the proposals, seen on Friday by The New York Times.

In the past, efforts at reaching global coordinated action on climate change have been undermined in large part because the United States insisted on binding emissions limits for countries like India and China. — New York Times News Service