EU not fighting pollution

The majority of EU countries are ignoring laws on air pollution, the European Commission announced on Thursday.

The commission is taking legal action against nine member states for failing to implement wide-ranging environmental legislation.

Italy and Greece are the worst offenders, guilty of five environmental infractions each.

Problems range from poor incineration of waste to a failure to protect the ozone layer from dangerous gases.

Environment minister Margot Wallstrom urged member states to hurry up implementation of the various EU laws, saying that "delays put citizens at greater risk of suffering haelth problems associated with poor air quality."

The other countries taken to task are Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Spain.

In some cases the commission has only issued a first written warning, but in the cases where countries have ignored two written warnings they have been refered to the European Court of Justice.

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