(ANSA-AP) - BRUSSELS - The European Union is starting legal action against Britain, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain, Tzcech Republic for not imposing penalties against Volkswagen for using illegal software to hide vehicle emissions.

The European Commission also said Thursday that it believes Britain and Germany "broke the law by refusing to disclose, when requested by the Commission, all the technical information" they gathered on Volkswagen emissions. The Commission, which supervises the application of EU laws, has given the countries two months to respond to its allegations. German automaker Volkswagen has been trying to cut costs to recover from the fallout of the massive diesel emissions scandal. The company has agreed to pay $15 billion under a settlement with U.S.

authorities and owners of some 500,000 vehicles with software that turned off emissions controls. "Rispect the law is a duty of car producers but national authorities have to assure that producers respect the rules", said European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elzbieta Bienkowska. (ANSA-AP).