EU court cancels decision against UKIP ally over misspending

The European Union‘s top court has annulled a decision from the European Parliament that requested a political group linked to the British political party UKIP to reimburse tens of thousands of euros in EU funds for a lack of impartiality.

The Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe had been asked to repay 172,655 euros (about $190,000) in 2016 after the European Parliament ruled the group had misspent EU funds on the party’s domestic campaign in the United Kingdom, breaking the bloc’s spending rules.

The ADDE brought the case to court, arguing that the Parliament’s bureau, which took the decision, did not include a single representative of “eurosceptic” parties, and that a member of the body made hostile comments towards the party before the decision was made.

In its ruling Thursday, the European Court of Justice said that “appearances of impartiality were seriously compromised”.