France rejects German push to change rules on car emissions

France’s European affairs minister rejected on Tuesday opposition by Germany to a law that would require new cars sold in the EU from 2035 to have zero CO2 emissions, with the minister saying an earlier agreement should be upheld.

After months of negotiations, the European Parliament, the EU Commission and European Union member states agreed last year to the law that would effectively make it impossible to sell combustion engine cars from that date.

But Germany this month declared its last-minute opposition. It wants sales of new cars with internal combustion engines to be allowed after that date if they run on e-fuels.

“We should stick to what was agreed. I have no doubt the Germans will find an agreement with their colleagues on this,” French minister Laurence Boone told reporters in Brussels.

German EU affairs minister Anna Luehrmann said the agreement was accepted, but added that the German government and the European Commission were still in talks about some final details.

“I expect that these talks will be concluded before the summit this week,” she said, referring to a summit of EU leaders that will be held on Thursday and Friday.