BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - In the dispute over the future of new cars with internal combustion engines, the German government has received a response from the EU Commission to recent German proposals for a solution. This should now be examined, as the Ministry of Transport announced in Berlin on Friday. The department had sent a letter to Brussels on Thursday evening. Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) expressed confidence that a viable solution would now be found. He wanted to comment on Friday afternoon (14.00) in Mainz.

Wissing told the German Press Agency that close consultations had been held with the EU Commission and that, after careful consideration, a constructive proposal for a solution had been submitted to it. "We assume that not only all substantive but also the legal questions have been sufficiently answered with this." He added: "There should thus be nothing to prevent the approval of newly registered vehicles with internal combustion engines that are fueled exclusively with synthetic fuels, even after 2035."

Wissing said that the EU Commission is now expected to issue a corresponding declaration, specify clear time targets and initiate the process for corresponding legal acts.

The background to this is an agreement in principle by the European Parliament and EU member states, according to which only zero-emission new cars may be registered in the EU from 2035. Germany, however, is pushing for new cars with internal combustion engines to be allowed to run on e-fuels - climate-neutral artificial fuels produced with green electricity - even after that date. Confirmation of the agreement by the EU member states, scheduled for the beginning of March, was therefore initially prevented by Germany. E-fuels are currently still a long way from mass use./sam/DP/stw