MILAN Renault's chief executive said on Friday the European Union's proposed Euro 7 emissions rules for vehicles would distract the auto industry from its path to electrification and thanked the Italian government for opposing them.

EU countries and lawmakers are due this year to negotiate proposed new "Euro 7" legislation that tightens vehicle emission limits for pollutants including nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide and is designed to apply to cars and vans from July 2025 and to buses and trucks two years later.

At the same time, the European Commission has set a 2035 deadline for phasing out production of fossil fuel cars, although it recently introduced an exemption for those vehicles running on e-fuels.

"They want to introduce a new regulation which would distract us from our mission to transform the industry," Luca De Meo, an Italian national who is also president of European auto lobby group ACEA, said while speaking remotely at an event in Trento, Italy.

"This would require us to put a lot of money on things which have no future, so I wish the European Union could review its intentions" to approve the Euro 7 regulation in the way that is currently proposed.

De Meo said that in its battle against Euro 7 regulation the ACEA was aligned with the Italian government.

"Italy has taken a very clear position on this and we thank it for its support," he said,

Earlier this month, Italy's Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said Italy and allies in the EU "have the numbers" to block the Euro 7 regulation.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Mark Potter)