Elton John concert funding probed

The performance was part of the Piedigrotta festival. It is unclear how much John was paid for the gig, the BBC said.

Italian Euro Member of Parliament Mario Borghezio called the expenditure, which only recently was made public, a "shameful" misuse of EU funds by the Campania regional authority.

"We're asking the managing authority about this. We want to know why they think it fits in with the rules," the commission's regional policy spokesman Ton van Lierop told the British broadcaster.

Van Lierop said it is not unusual for cultural projects to be co-financed by the commission and regional authorities in the EU, "but we want to know why this concert benefited this region."

Festival organizers said the concert helped promote Naples and brought business to the region, the BBC said.

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