The European Commission yesterday confirmed it would claw back £13.3m from the government because of accounting errors in grant aid applications for projects in the Highlands and Islands between 1994 and 1999.

The European Commission yesterday confirmed it would claw back £13.3m from the government because of accounting errors in grant aid applications for projects in the Highlands and Islands between 1994 and 1999.

The projects themselves will not be affected, but it is not yet clear whether it will be Whitehall or Holyrood who will pay the bill.

Originally the commission was seeking more than £20m, but a spokesman said yesterday the total had been scaled down after several years examining the paperwork surrounding the numerous projects which were supported at the time.

The EC will not identify which projects caused official concern, but it is understood they included a new vessel for the Corran ferry and support for mobile phone infrastructure across the region.

In February 2005, the EC announced its initial concerns, having looked at 14 projects, including the Cairngorm Funicular Railway, Hunter's of Brora woollen mill and the Scalpay Bridge.

The following year, having studied a further 26 schemes, the commission announced it was launching "a formal financial correction", not least because of the high rate of ineligible expenditure in the projects checked.

A commission spokesman stressed yesterday that this did not amount to fraud: "The European rules say that if there are any errors, then we can't pay the money. This is not an issue an issue of fraud. Fraud is extremely rare in terms of regional development funding. Indeed 0.16% was the figure for fraud in the past seven years. It is about auditing errors."

The period in question precedes the establishment of a devolved administration in Scotland, but he said it did not matter to the commission whether this money came from Edinburgh or London.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said yesterday that while there had still not been any official notification, the money had been set aside.

He added: "These are historic, largely technical, issues relating to the 1994-99 European Regional Development Fund when money was spent on projects that continue to give good value to the Highlands and Islands we do not expect the commission's decision to have a detrimental impact on any of the projects."