PARIS (Reuters) -French industry minister Marc Ferracci said on Thursday he was open to discussions on relaxing regulations that will bar the sale of fossil-fuel cars by 2035.
Ferracci told lawmakers at a parliamentary hearing that he was “ready” to think about relaxing the ban, though he added that the target should remain and that he was committed to the goal of decarbonisation.
It was not immediately clear what steps France would take. The EU has set a 2035 target that all new cars and vans sold in the European Union no longer emit carbon dioxide.
Europe’s auto industry has faced slowing demand growth for electric vehicles and lower-cost Chinese rivals and have argued more government subsidies and more widespread charging infrastructure is needed to increase demand for EVs.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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