The European Commission has launched an inquiry

Date: 11/06/1998

into the 900 credit lines opened under the EU's 86-billion-ecu budget to check their legality. The move follows a ruling by the European Court of Justice last month in favour of the UK government that only “non-significant” activities can be funded by the Commission without obtaining the approval of member states. London filed its complaint at the ECJ in 1995 after the Commission funded pilot projects “combating poverty and social exclusion” without a “legal base”