The European Commission is taking Italy to task over its plan for the Messina Straits bridge, following a formal complaint by the World Wildlife Fund. Brussels is concerned that the Italian government skimped on environmental impact studies and that current proposals would breach the EUs birds and habitats directives. The decision of the government, however, is still to build the bridge, shot back minister for the environment, Altero Matteoli, though he now has just two months to respond to the commission request for more information or risk losing EU funds. WWF says there are several areas at risk from pylons, construction sites and deposits and that these would have a major impact on both Sicilian and Calabrian mountainsides. These are home to hundreds of aquatic and priority species and a bottleneck for European migratory birds such as falcons. Some 34,000 birds and 32 different species pass through these areas in just two months of migration.