UK faces $1 billion in penalties
Published:Wednesday | January 19, 2011 | 5:59 PM
The UK faces up to 1 billion in penalties from the European Commission (EU) because of mistakes by government departments.
The National Audit Office (NAO) says 398 million pounds of financial corrections have already been made and a further 601 million pounds has been set aside to cover further penalties.
The Commission withholds the money from countries it believes has not met rules on allocating money from the European Union.
The NAO says most of the penalties from 2008/2009 were due to well publicised problems with agricultural schemes.
The NAO report is the first time all the withheld payments have been added together for the time period.