No new vans or cars with combustion engines are to be sold in the European Union from 2035.

The Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency said, negotiators from the member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission agreed that carmakers must achieve a 100% cut in CO2 emissions by 2035.

It would effectively prohibit the sale of new cars and vans powered by gasoline or diesel in the 27-nation bloc.

The ban is part of the EU's climate change package dubbed Fit for 55, aiming to reduce climate-damaging emissions by 55% by 2030, when compared to 1990 levels, and reach climate neutrality by 2050. 

"We have just finished the negotiations on CO2 levels for cars," tweeted French MEP Pascal Canfin, who heads the European parliament's environment commission.

"Historic EU decision for the climate which definitively confirms the target of 100 percent zero emission vehicles in 2035 with intermediary phases between 2025 and 2030."

Cars currently account for 12% of all CO2 emissions in the EU bloc, while transportation overall accounts for around a quarter.

EU member states must now adopt the regulation into national law.

There were no plans for a driving ban on combustion engines vehicle. Instead, it is hoped all of those would eventually be replaced with electric vehicles.

lo/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)