BRUSSELS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission said on Thursday that it's taking a number of member states to the Court of Justice of the European Union over air quality.

The Commission will refer France, Germany, and Britain for failure to respect limit values for nitrogen dioxide, and for failing to take appropriate measures to keep exceedance periods as short as possible.

Hungary, Italy, and Romania are referred to the Court of Justice over persistently high levels of particulate matter.

The Commission also decided to issue additional letters of formal notice to Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Britain, on the grounds that they have disregarded EU vehicle type approval rules.

EU type-approval legislation requires member states to have effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalty systems in place to deter car manufacturers from breaking the law.