The European Commission sued nine EU nations on Thursday for not enacting European law that holds polluters liable for the environmental damage they cause.

The commission began the legal action in the European Court of Justice against Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Britain and the Brussels region of Belgium, saying they failed to incorporate the EU's 2004 "polluter-pays" law into their national legislation.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement the "EU's Environmental Liability Directive implements the polluter-pays principle and is one of the most significant new pieces of EU environmental law of the last few years."

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