EC to be repaid for Elton John show

Organizers of the 2009 concert in Naples were criticized for spending nearly $1 million of European money on the gig, which was part of the Piedigrotta festival.

While detractors said it was a misuse of funds, festival organizers maintained the concert helped promote Naples and brought business to the region, and argued that is what the money is intended to do.

"Cultural events, culture in general, can fall under the scope of operational programs, but they have to be aimed at structural long-term investments," commission spokesman Ton Van Lierop told the BBC Friday.

Van Lierop said the money would be repaid "by deducting from the next (European Union) payments," the British broadcaster said.

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