BRUSSELS - Germany will push for an ambitious goal of making the European Union economy neutral in terms of carbon emissions by 2050 at the EU summit on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

"I hope that the ambitious plans for climate protection become reality, which means all of us - or most of us - will have to do more to reach the targets for 2030. But we also want to commit to reach climate neutrality by 2050. I can only stress that this is Germany's goal," Merkel said her way to the summit.

(Reporting By Sabine Siebold, writing by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Alissa de Carbonnel) ((jan.strupczewski@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 68 37; Reuters Messaging: jan.strupczewski.reuters.com@reuters.net))