Germany’s transport minister announced plans on Thursday for a fund to help cities modernize their transport systems and reduce pollution, but said it was too soon to bury the internal combustion engine. Speaking a day after Britain said it would ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040, Alexander Dobrindt said the fund would provide hundreds of millions of euros and would help cities to optimize traffic flows, according to Reuters.

However, he did not say when the fund would be set up, and added it was not productive at this stage to talk of “burying the combustion engine”.

Germany is home to three of the world’s biggest carmakers in Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, which have invested heavily in diesel technology, and the government has said it is opposed to banning diesel vehicles.

After Volkswagen (VW) admitted almost two years ago to cheating emissions tests, the entire auto industry has come under scrutiny for the nitrogen oxide emissions produced by diesel cars, which are blamed for causing respiratory diseases.

Dobrindt was speaking ahead of an Aug. 2 “diesel summit” at which representatives of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, regional governments and carmakers will discuss ways to tackle diesel pollution.