Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – Baden-Württemberg’s Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut would have liked the EU Parliament to take a “more open-technology approach that gives other solutions such as synthetic fuels more chances” when deciding to end combustion engines. “An additional differentiation between fossil and sustainably operated engines would have been possible,” said the CDU politician on Thursday in Stuttgart.

The industry is in a deep transformation process. The challenges are enormous, especially for smaller suppliers. “That worries me, because it is to be expected that not every location and every supplier will survive this effort,” said Hoffmeister-Kraut. It is therefore a top priority for the state government to support the industry.

In the fight for more climate protection, the EU Parliament wants to ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. Before such a regulation can come into force, Parliament still has to negotiate with the EU states.