German finance minister: Changing emissions protection law makes diesel retrofits attractive

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that changing the emissions protection law made hardware retrofits of diesel cars attractive.

On Thursday the cabinet agreed on new legislation, according to which driving bans in cities with nitrogen oxide emissions below 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air are disproportionate.

"What we're doing today is that for the first time ever we're creating a legal basis in the federal emission control act to impose restrictions on driving into or through an area," Scholz told reporters in Berlin.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers)