Karima Delli, a French Green MEP, said: “Let’s not listen to the lobbyists from the fuel industry and carmakers who keep emailing you, don’t give in folks.
“We will stand with workers so that factories are not closed down.”
But Mr Gieseke warned that ending the sale of combustion engine cars would put some 500,000 jobs at risk.
The outcome of the vote will also affect revised emission standards for trucks, which the Commission is expected to publish later this year.