BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized that the decision taken at EU level to phase out combustion engines will be reviewed in 2026. It is "very important" that a review takes place in 2026, the CDU politician said in Brussels on Wednesday. "I think it is often forgotten that an inventory and a review will take place in 2026." This should ensure that there is openness for technologies and choice for consumers. The industry should also be able to choose where it wants to invest and what it sees as the mobility of the future.

In 2022, the EU agreed that from 2035, no new cars should be registered that run on petrol or diesel. The agreement already stipulated that a review would take place in 2026. In the German government, the FDP in particular had insisted that cars fueled exclusively with climate-friendly e-fuels should be exempt from the so-called combustion engine phase-out. How this is to happen in detail has not yet been conclusively clarified.

The Chairman of the Christian Democratic EPP Group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, also wants to overturn the 2035 ban on combustion engines. "If my group can establish a majority after the European elections, we will reverse the ban on combustion engines passed by the European Parliament in this legislative period," the CSU politician told the newspapers of the Bavarian Media Group in December.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing interprets von der Leyen's words to mean "that our view on the ban on combustion engines is now slowly gaining acceptance at the top of the Commission". What is needed is a proposal that includes climate-neutral e-fuels. "We have a legally binding commitment that combustion vehicles can still be registered after 2035 if they are operated in a climate-neutral way," said the FDP politician. He would take the Commission at its word./mjm/DP/mis