The European Union is backtracking on its plan to prohibit the sale of new combustion-engine passenger cars after 2035, as the de facto ban came under fire from major carmakers and strong auto industry lobbies in Germany and Italy. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, is expected on Tuesday to push back or ease indefinitely the 2023 decision to end sales of new carbon dioxide-emitting cars and vans in 2035. The Commission will either postpone the ban by five years or soften the CO2-emitting targets indefinitely, sources…