Germany and EU reach deal on combustion engine phase-out

The German government has reached an agreement with the European Commission in the dispute over a ban on new cars with internal combustion engines.

Officials from both sides announced this on Saturday.

The dispute between Berlin and Brussels over the agreed phase-out had centred on whether manufacturers would still be able to make cars using so-called e-fuels after 2035.

"We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of efuels in cars," EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans wrote on Twitter.

"We will work now on getting the CO2-standards for cars regulation [sic] adopted as soon as possible, and the Commission will follow-up swiftly with the necessary legal steps," he wrote.

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who had pushed for the change, wrote that "vehicles with internal combustion engines can still be newly registered after 2035 if they fill up exclusively with CO2-neutral fuels."

"Europe remains technology-neutral," he wrote.