Judgment_paragraph 67 · Alfamicro - Sistemas de computadores, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda. v European Commission (C-14/18 P)

67Consequently, if the costs declared by the beneficiary are not eligible under the relevant grant agreement because they have been judged to be unverifiable and/or unreliable, the Commission has no choice but to recover an amount of the grant equal to the unsubstantiated amounts, since, pursuant to the legal basis provided by that grant agreement, the Commission can pay out of the EU budget only duly substantiated sums. Accordingly, in the present case, requesting repayment of the part of the grant corresponding to the ineligible costs, as established in the Court of Auditor’s audit report, is an appropriate measure.