President Sarkozy reportedly preferred showering at the Elysee Palace EU taxpayers funded a custom-built 276,000 euros (£250,000) shower for French President Nicolas Sarzoky, auditors say – but he never used it.

The shower, in the Grand Palace in Paris, was for his sole use at a Union of the Mediterranean summit held during France’s six-month EU presidency.

But the leader preferred to wash in the Elysee Palace 10 minutes away. The new shower has since been dismantled.

The French European Union presidency was one of the most costly in history.

Details of expenditure have been revealed in figures published by the French national audit office.

Surround sound

The shower at the Grand Palace was custom built for the 5ft 5in (1.6m) president in a listed building and had massage and surround sound radio functions, the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

The three-day summit during which it was intended to be used cost 16.6m euros to stage in total. Other expenses included £90,000 for a carpet and nearly £300,000 for a conference podium.

The French Court of Accounts put the total cost of the presidency, which ran from July to December 2008, at 171m euros (£154m).

Usually the rotating presidency of the EU costs 70-80m euros. Only Germany has previously spent as much on it as France, the AFP news agency reported.

Its report said France had organised 489 EU events during its presidency, including nine summits, 25 ministerial meetings and 328 seminars and symposiums.

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