(BERLIN) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the EU Wednesday not to water down its climate protection goals in the face of a global recession and called for a worldwide deal on slashing CO2 emissions.

"I say here very clearly that I do not believe it would be right to sacrifice the well-founded climate goals of the European Union," Merkel told parliament during a debate on the federal budget.

The EU has fixed an ambitious triple objective for itself to achieve by 2020 the so-called 20-20-20 goals: a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, bringing renewable energy use up to 20 percent of the total, and an overall cut of 20 percent in energy use.

Merkel originally launched the climate change/energy plan during Germany's EU presidency last year.

"That was our goal and that remains our goal," Merkel said.

A compromise on a binding deal may be reached on the issue during an EU summit in Brussels in mid-December.

The current text calls for some energy-intensive industries to pay for pollution rights starting in 2013.

Nearly 10,000 European firms currently benefit each year from free emissions rights when they exceed authorised pollution levels and some have called for diluting the EU plan until the economic crisis has passed.

Making companies pay for those rights is particularly contested in Germany, which is still home to several heavy industries, in particular the chemicals sector.

An unpublished economy ministry report leaked to the German press Tuesday said Germany could lose more than 100,000 jobs if the EU makes industries pay for pollution rights that are free at present.

Merkel acknowledged that Europe should not hobble itself in international competition considering that "outside Europe there is no (emission-rights) certificates system on a major scale".

"This must be negotiated... so jobs are not endangered," she said.

She said Germany was "pleased" that US president-elect Barack Obama "makes the impression that he is more open to climate protection" than President George W. Bush.

"We will have many opportunities to test that out this year and next year but we of course need an even playing field worldwide," she said.

The Polish city of Poznan will host a UN climate conference from December 1-12 to prepare the ground for talks in Copenhagen in December 2009 to complete a draft international treaty on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The aim of the international accord, which will be the most complex and ambitious environmental deal ever attempted, is also to channel funds, technology and expertise to poor countries bearing the brunt of climate change.

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