Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is striving for a quick agreement in the dispute with the EU Commission about the planned ban on new cars with combustion engines. A spokeswoman said on Wednesday in Berlin that the talks were well advanced.

"We have clarified many legal issues comprehensively and can now turn to the next details. Our goal remains: to reach an agreement as quickly as possible. The procedures are extremely complicated and require careful examination by both sides."

An EU summit begins in Brussels on Thursday. Wissing wants the EU Commission to show a reliable way for new passenger cars with combustion engines to be registered after 2035, provided they are only operated with so-called e-fuels.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) said with regard to a solution proposed by the EU Commission, this draft appears to take account of the concerns of the FDP and that nothing stands in the way of an agreement. In the draft available to the German Press Agency, the authority defines criteria for the approval of new vehicles that can only be operated with CO2-neutral fuels

Actually, negotiators in the European Parliament and the EU states had already agreed in autumn that only zero-emission new cars would be allowed to be registered in the EU from 2035. A confirmation of the deal by the EU states, which was scheduled for early March, was canceled due to additional demands from Germany. Because Italy, Bulgaria and Poland also reject the combustion ban, there would not have been the necessary majority for the law without German approval.

In the federal government, it is above all the FDP that is pushing for new cars with combustion engines that run on climate-neutral e-fuels to be allowed to be registered after 2035. The party justifies this with a so-called recital in the autumn agreement, which provides for certain exceptions for combustion engines with e-fuels.