Prime Minister Julia Gillard got significant boosts on her carbon pricing campaign as leading European figures lauded Canberra for its responsible move that will introduce taxes on industries tagged as contributors to air pollution.

Joining Ms Gillard on a news briefing on Monday, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged the Australian government to continue what it has started on its planned carbon pricing scheme, which he said only highlighted the country's commitment as a responsible member of the international community.

"Australia's decision to put a price on carbon emissions is, in our view, an important step both environmentally and economically," Barroso was quoted by ABC as saying.

While the initiative elicited searing debates from many quarters in Australia, the head of the European Commission assured the Prime Minister that she's heading the right track in fighting for a measure that Europe deems as "the most cost-efficient way to reduce emissions and also a great green business opportunity."

Also, EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard praised Ms Gillard for integrating her carbon pricing schemes with the basic dynamics of the market as she met with members of the Australian Parliament led by Climate Change Minister Greg Combet.

"I can only say that our experience in Europe is to have a market-based system that works and we saw during the crisis when demand for allowances dropped, so also did the price," Hedegaard recalled in giving her approval to Ms Gillard's efforts to work her political solutions through existing local market conditions.

The EU commissioner also advised the government that working on the scheme at this time fits perfectly with existing international conditions as she emphasized Australia's efforts for staying ahead of other nations in adopting an environmental policy that benefits both the country's social and economic concerns.

Australia, Hedegaard stressed, is setting a good example for the international community that she would further bolster the creation of a globally accepted framework in implementing the carbon emission measures.

And all those efforts, the EU official said, have been noticed by everyone in Europe, which now regards Australia as a "country not (only) doing the talking, but they are actually creating a scheme, a system as to how to start to do something about it."

On her part, Ms Gillard said that Australia will press on with its carbon emission programs as she revealed that the country has forged a deal with European leaders that will allow for senior level discussions on "economy-to-economy measures we can jointly undertake to link our emissions trading schemes at the appropriate time in the future."

"Both Australia and the EU recognise that carbon markets are the most cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gases and creating clean energy jobs," Ms Gillard told reporters attending the press conference.