Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK all receive notification time is running out to bring air quality into line with EU standards . The threat of multi-million pound fines being levelled at the UK over its repeated breaches of EU air quality rules moved a step closer today, after the European Commission issued "final warnings" to five member states over their failure to bring air pollution below EU-wide limits. Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK today all received official reasoned opinions from the Commission detailing why it believes the countries are in breach of standards for NO2 emissions and giving the member states two months to take steps to tackle the problem. The Commission said that if the member states do not come forward with an adequate plan to tackle air pollution it could decide to take them to the EU's Court of Justice. The reasoned opinions claim there have been persistent breaches of NO2 limits in 28 zones in Germany, 19 zones in France, 16 zones in the UK, 12 zones in Italy, and three zones in Spain. They confirm that many of Europe's largest cities, including London, Birmingham, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid are failing to meet air quality standards, contributing to an estimated 400,000 premature deaths each year. The move was welcomed by Greenpeace clean air campaigner Paul Morozzo, who argued governments now need to step up efforts to tackle air pollution, and in particular diesel vehicles. "Air pollution affects us all," he said. "It can help to cause and worsen life-threatening conditions like heart disease and asthma; and ultimately that's shortening people's lives. And we know that diesel is a big cause of the illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution that the EU commission is concerned about. Yet unbelievably, the government is still incentivising consumers to buy brand new diesel cars that are pumping out illegal levels of pollution. That must change. Vehicle Excise Duty on car sales should incentivise cleaner vehicle choices and deter diesel sales as they produce more harmful air pollution." The UK government has repeatedly argued it is committed to tackling air pollution and is currently preparing a new air quality plan in response to separate legal action, which last year saw a British judge rule that the current strategy is inadequate. The new plan is expected in the coming months and is likely to be used to try and head off the threat of separate action from the European Commission, which could be pursued before the UK leaves the European Union in 2019. However, experts have warned any plan capable of bringing the UK into line with EU air quality standards is likely to require stringent new measures to tackle emissions from diesel vehicles and significant investment in low emission cars and public transport. The news comes on the same day as Transport for London announced it is to run two more bus routes using exclusively electric buses, taking the total number of zero emission electric buses on London's roads to more than 120. The move is part of a strategy which will see the operator stop buying diesel-only double decker buses from 2018 as it switches to a mix of pure electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell buses. "More than half of London's toxic air pollution is caused by road transport, and our oldest buses are one of the biggest contributors to harmful NOx emissions in central London," said London Mayor Sadiq Khan. "These new electric buses will eradicate harmful emissions and will have a significant impact on the quality of our air." Khan also today blasted the government's failure to deliver a more ambitious air quality plan ahead of the EU's intervention. "It beggars belief that our government has to be told we have the right to breathe clean air," he said. "Ministers have been dragged kicking and screaming to accept the scale of this problem and they must act now and start showing some proper leadership. "As Mayor of London, I have set out the additional action ministers can take, including outlining detailed proposals for a national diesel scrappage fund and a new Clean Air Act that addresses the massive air quality challenges we face in London and across the country. As part of this, cities must be given the additional powers and resources needed effectively to tackle all sources of pollution."