European Union leaders have reached an agreement on a proposal to present at the global climate talks in Copenhagen in December, resolving a disagreement on how to divide the costs. Developing nations will require 100 billion euros ($148 billion) annually by 2020 to combat climate change, leaders announced at an EU summit in Brussels. A portion of this funding, estimated at 22-50 billion euros, will come from the public funds of wealthy nations, including the EU. It is expected that the EU's contribution will be around 20-30 percent, a development hailed as a significant step towards reaching a Copenhagen agreement by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. East European nations stated that the summit resolved a disagreement on how to divide the EU's share of the bill without negatively impacting their economies as they strive to recover from crisis. The Polish minister for Europe, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, described this as a victory for Poland, emphasizing the country's desire for rapid development and avoidance of being viewed as a stagnant representation of eastern European culture. Although leaders did not reach a specific agreement on how to split the bill, they assigned this task to a new working group. "I would have preferred for the burden-sharing mechanism to be ready now, but it was too difficult," stated Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The two-day summit successfully obtained a complex negotiating mandate for the Copenhagen talks, which aim to find a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire in 2012. The success of these talks will likely depend on financial support. Developing countries insist they will not agree to combat climate change without adequate funding from wealthy nations, who are mostly responsible for environmental damage due to their use of oil and coal over the years. Developing countries may use these funds to improve their agriculture or access new water sources in drought-prone areas. However, the plans for providing "fast start" financing for developing nations in the three years leading up to a new climate deal were put on hold by European leaders. Oxfam criticized Europe's proposal, stating that it was inadequate and lacked guarantees that the funds would not be taken from existing aid commitments. Oxfam's Elise Ford warned that if rich countries diverted money from aid budgets to pay for climate debts, it could reverse progress in fighting poverty. The opposition from east European countries lessened after Sweden, the chair of the talks, addressed the issue of "hot air" - the surplus carbon permits held by eastern European states, Russia, and Ukraine. These permits, totaling 17 billion euros, were leftover from the collapse of their economies after the end of communist rule. The additional permits, referred to as AAUs, can be traded to major polluters like Japan for approximately 10 euros per ton. Eastern European nations are in favor of continuing to sell AAUs in the new agreement that replaces Kyoto. However, some countries, including Germany, argue that they undermine the agreement's integrity and should be eliminated because they reduce the urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden secured support from eastern Europe for the overall agreement by agreeing to delay any significant action on AAUs, according to an EU official. The agreement also includes measures to reduce domestic emissions, with a commitment to increase cuts to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 if other countries take similar actions.