EU will introduce cut-off date for combustion cars

The European Union (EU) plans to introduce an absolute cut-off date after which all manufacturers will have to stop producing combustion-powered cars, the head of its executive commission said.

Ursula von der Leyen s told Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung that even though a dozen European carmakers had announced they would switch to zero-emissions cars between 2028 and 2035, a legal cut-off date was needed.

"We will still set an end date after which all cars will have to be emissions free," she said without naming the date. "

Otherwise there will be a lack of certainty and we won't achieve our goal of climate neutrality by 2050."

The European Commission will on Wednesday unveil its "Fit for 50" package of proposals which, if approved by the 27 member states, would put the bloc - the world's third-largest economy - on track to meet its 2030 goal of reducing planet-warming emissions by 55% from 1990 levels.

The package being released will face months of negotiations between member states and the European Parliament and is likely to be the target of ferocious lobbying efforts by the many industries affected.