European Union approves law to ban sales of new "CO2-emitting" cars by 2035

European Union countries' energy ministers gave final approval on Tuesday to a law ending sales of new CO2-emitting cars in the EU in 2035, after Germany won an exemption for cars running on e-fuels.

The law will now enter into force. It will require all new cars sold to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035, and 55% lower CO2 emissions from 2030, versus 2021 levels.

The European Commission has pledged, however, to propose additional rules allowing sales of new combustion engine cars that only run on e-fuels to continue after 2035, after Germany demanded this exemption from the ban.