By Martin Banks - 4th February 2010
My fear is that the commission will use this money either to cover overspending in other areas or to fund new projects
Ashley Fox
The commission has been accused of "hoarding" €6bn raised from fines on companies that have engaged in anti-competitive practices, such as Intel and Microsoft.
UK Conservative MEP Ashley Fox said that member states should be given back "its share" of the cash, instead of the money being held by the commission as a surplus.
Fox, a member of parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee, recently questioned Joaquín Almunia, the commissioner-designate for competition, about the issue.
According to Fox, the Spanish official said that the fines would be held by the commission and used as part of the EU budget and that he had no plans to reform the practice.
Citing the UK as an example, Fox says that if Britain was to receive a share of around 10 per cent of the commission surplus, this would amount to about €572m, which he said would provide "a much needed boost to the United Kingdom's coffers".
Fox said, "Monies raised from anti-competition fines should ideally be returned to those consumers who have paid over the odds for products and services.
"However, as this would be virtually impossible to implement the best alternative is to return the money to the member states.
"Given the current financial predicament that Britain is facing, the government should demand that its share of the money is returned to the taxpayer as soon as possible.
"My fear is that the commission will use this money either to cover overspending in other areas or to fund new projects.
"At this time of restraint at home we should seek the return of our money immediately."
He added, "Money raised from fines should be returned to the member states directly and not treated as a surplus in the EU budget".
No-one from the commission was immediately available for comment.
