EU suffers setback on car emissions

The European Union's ambition to become a global leader in achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is at risk, with Austria joining a dozen other countries in opposing a plan to ban diesel and petrol cars by 2035.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has promised he will do his utmost to ensure the survival of the internal combustion engine, online news website Euractiv reported on Monday.

"I, too, will speak out against banning the internal combustion engine" should EU leaders vote on the matter, he said during a speech on his future vision for Austria.

Austria aims to become climate neutral by 2040. But by late 2022, only around 2.2 percent of the country's 7.6 million cars were electric.

His words came as ministers of 13 EU member states, which resisted the ban, met on Monday in Strasbourg on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session to discuss the internal combustion engine ban and the Euro 7 exhaust standards.

The meeting gathered countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland and Bulgaria to demand a change in the rules.

The European Parliament approved a law last month to ban the sales of new petrol and diesel cars in the EU from 2035 in its bid to transition to climate-friendly electric cars.

"There is no (European Commission) proposal that corresponds to what we expect, and that is why we have not yet reached our goal," German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said after the meeting.

Germany is leading the charge in pushing to allow cars to be able to run on e-fuels that can still be used in conventional combustion engines.

There is widespread concern in Germany that the ban on internal combustion engines will force the closures of hundreds of companies, costing numerous jobs.

At the same time, German carmakers Volkswagen and Audi have announced that they will only produce electric cars in Europe from 2033.

The EU's plan to vote last week on banning the internal combustion engines was postponed due to demands from Germany.

Meanwhile, France, Spain and many other EU member states are firm in moving toward the zero emissions goal in 2035.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has lashed out at the opposition by Germany and other countries. "There is no way you have to postpone this target. It's not about a 2024 or 2025 target, it's a 2035 target, 12 years from now," he told Franceinfo radio on Monday.

"You can't say there's a climate crisis, which is the case, which we're all seeing, in our cities and metropolises, which are still too polluted, and postpone the goal of switching to e-cars."