Germany, EU Reach Deal on Combustion-Engine Plan

The EU is pursuing an ambitious plan to fight climate-change-causing greenhouse-gas emissions that relies heavily on the mass adoption of electric vehicles.

A compromise reached last October saw lawmakers agree to the effective ban but said that the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, could put forward additional rules allowing for the continued sale of new vehicles that use so-called synthetic fuels, which can burn like gasoline and diesel but release fewer climate-damaging emissions.

Berlin wanted those plans put forward quickly and earlier this month threatened to block the legislation unless Brussels moved forward with rules to allow cars running on e-fuels to be sold after 2035.

Vehicles with combustion engines can be newly registered after 2035 if they only use such CO2-neutral fuels, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said on Saturday. Concrete procedural steps and a specific timetable had been bindingly agreed, he said.

“The way is clear: Europe remains technology-neutral," he tweeted. “We secure opportunities for Europe by retaining important options for climate-neutral and affordable mobility."

Frans Timmermans, the EU’s executive vice president in charge of climate policy, said the bloc will now work on getting the CO2 standards for car regulation adopted as soon as possible. The commission will quickly follow up with the necessary legal steps, he said.

The dispute had threatened to undermine the bloc’s ambitious climate-change agenda. Germany had pushed back against the plans, arguing that including so-called e-fuels in the plan would allow emission targets to be hit while stretching the costly move away from combustion engines over decades. The auto industry employs 3.4 million people in the EU, which is nearly 12% of all manufacturing jobs.

Germany had support from several other countries in pushing back against the bloc’s de facto combustion-engine ban, including Italy and Poland. EU officials concentrated their efforts on negotiating with Germany because the other member states with concerns about the legislation don’t have the power to block an agreement on their own.

EU member states are expected to vote to adopt the legislation on Tuesday, European officials said. They said the text of the agreement wasn’t changed.

Mr. Timmermans, who leads the bloc’s climate-policy efforts, held negotiations with Germany’s transport minister in recent weeks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that there was a will on both sides to resolve the issue in a way that matched the scope of the political agreement first reached late last year following negotiations between European member states, the bloc’s executive body and the European Parliament.

“Time is of the essence in this case," Ms. von der Leyen said. She said the legislation on the combustion engine was a key pillar of the EU’s efforts to address climate change.