Talks on Tuesday left the 27-nation EU deeply between split between richer older members and eastern European states, many of which are against coughing up new cash amid the financial crisis.

The failure means it will now be up to the EU's 27 leaders, who will meet next week in Brussels to try to reach a deal on an aid figure, which the EU promised to put on the table to push ahead international negotiations on a new accord to cut emissions worldwide.

If no figure is agreed to, that could undermine the EU's efforts to convince other countries, both rich and poor, to agree to a deal in final negotiations at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December, said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

``I hope that the EU keeps its leadership position, so I hope the European Council (of government leaders) at the end of this month we will come up with a solid financial proposal,'' he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

"Climate change is not only an environmental agenda, but also a development agenda,'' Barroso said.

Wealthy nations are seeking broad controls on emissions from all countries in the new pact, which is supposed to replace the U.N.'s 1997 Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions. But developing countries say industrialized nations, who are responsible for much of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, should carry most of the burden, saying tough emissions limits on poor countries would likely hamper their economic growth.

Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg, who chaired Tuesday's finance talks, said he was ``disappointed'' with the lack of a deal.

``We pushed very hard for an agreement today, but there is a need for further movement from different parties in the union to reach an agreement,'' he said.

The environment ministers will continue negotiations Wednesday in the run-up to next week's EU summit to bridge differences, Borg said.

Poland, Romania and Hungary led a group of eastern European countries opposing a burden-sharing plan intended to come up with at least euro15 billion a year in new aid to help the world's poorest countries cope with climate change.

The European Parliament's environment committee urged EU nations to offer at least euro30 billion ($45 billion), double the euro15 billion Barroso proposed last month.

Germany was also initially opposed to agreeing to a contribution, fearing it could scuttle a wider deal to reduce emissions, but Joerg Asmussen, Germany's deputy finance minister said Berlin would now accept the figure as part of a compromise.

The aid would be aimed at helping developing nations curb their emissions by paying for energy-efficient technology and more renewable power. It also would pay some of the costs of adapting to climate change as warmer weather causes deserts to spread and triggers more unpredictable weather, such as sudden storms and floods.

Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren of Sweden, whose country holds the EU presidency, and who leads the EU's climate negotiating team, said the EU would be ``very ambitious'' on funding but refused to set a figure.

The EU is urging other rich countries to match its pledge to cut emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, and says it will go even further and cut up to 30 percent if other rich countries follow suit.