German environment minister backs EU fossil fuel car phaseout, with tweak

LUXEMBOURG -- Germany can support a European Union proposal to effectively ban new fossil fuel car sales from 2035, if an option is added to allow sales of cars running on "CO2 neutral" fuels, German environment minister Steffi Lemke said.

"This addition is important to Germany in terms of our position, we believe it can also be a bridge for the overall discussion," Lemke told a meeting of EU environment ministers, who are attempting to agree a deal on the law on Tuesday.

Germany's proposed addition to the law would ask Brussels to make a separate proposal allowing vehicles "running exclusively on CO2-neutral fuels" to be sold after 2035, she said.

The comments are in contrast with those of Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who said at an event hosted by Germany's BDI industry association last week that the German government would not agree to the plan.

Lemke said earlier that she expected difficult discussions on EU rules regarding emissions-emitting cars, which are to be part of a package of ambitious climate laws she is discussing with EU counterparts.

Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania want to delay the end of combustion-engine sales by five years to 2040, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The policy is a key pillar of the EU's plans to tackle rising emissions as the bloc strives to cut economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions 55 percent by 2030, from 1990 levels.

The car emissions proposal, made by the European Commission last year, would require a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035, making it impossible to sell fuel-powered vehicles in the EU from that date.