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December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen could deliver both a second series of commitments under the Kyoto protocol and a new, overarching global climate agreement that includes the US, according to the UN's climate unit.

A "core overarching decision" by parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which the US is a member of, is crucial for the EU, European Commission negotiator Rosário Bento Pais told journalists in Brussels on Wednesday.

Developing countries have said they will not sign up to a deal that does not maintain the Kyoto protocol and its principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". The US would be "quite happy to keep large chunks of Kyoto" if it did not have to sign up to the protocol itself however, believes Mark Kenber from The Climate Group.

The overarching decision must include mitigation and financing commitments, and "anchor" political agreements on deforestation, adaptation, carbon markets, technology transfer and bunker fuels, Ms Bento Pais said.

The EU will decide "on the spot" in Copenhagen whether to increase its own mitigation pledge for 2020 to 30% below 1990 levels. This depends on other developed countries providing "comparable" pledges and developing countries taking "adequate" action. So far the US has proposed a 3% decrease.

Rich countries' pledges amount to 18% below 1990 levels, well below the 25-40% recommended by scientists. "I don't think we will stay in this range," Ms Bento Pais stressed. "Higher pledges are coming every day." She refused to say if the EU would sign up to an agreement with pledges outside the 25-40% range.

Copenhagen must "set up a process and mid-2010 deadline for completing the full text" of a legally binding treaty, according to a commission press release. It should also deliver a deal on fast-track financing for developing countries.

The Copenhagen summit begins on Monday and will run for two weeks. The last three days, from 15-18 December, will be attended by ministers and the last two days by at least 90 heads of state, the European Commission said on Wednesday.