The European Commission is referring three member states to the European Court of Justice for repeated failures to meet EU green rules, it announced on Wednesday as part of its regular infringements package.

Germany, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia all face legal action at the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to comply with environmental rules ranging from air quality to nature conservation, the European Commission has said.

The European Commission will refer Bulgaria to the European Court of Justice for failing to comply with a 2017 ruling that found it had breached its obligations under the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directive.

The European Commission must act quickly against the “ruthless greed and large-scale corruption” driving the destruction of some of Europe’s last remaining primary forests in Romania, according to a cross-party group of MEPs.

Italy has failed to tackle illegally high levels of air pollution, breaching its obligations under the Ambient Air Quality Directive, the EU Court of Justice has ruled.

The European Commission will file a case at the European Court of Justice against the French government over its “systematic failure to meet EU rules” on air pollution for more than decade.

The European Commission last year opened the most number of legal cases against member states for breaking environmental rules than for any other EU policy area, according to official figures

The European Commission and national governments must do more to tackle environmental crime across the continent, a green group has warned, if they are to live up to the pledges of the European Green Deal