Failure to do so would result in a corresponding cut in the amount made available by the Commission in future, he said.

BBC: Elton John gig in Italy probed by EU over funding

Corresponding to the decline in luxury consumer confidence, the average amount spent by affluent consumers on luxury goods and services in the second quarter 2011 declined by 8.4 percent from the first quarter and dropped 18.4 percent over same quarter last year, according to the survey.

FORBES: Survey: Affluent Households Lack Confidence in the Economy

The participants had to record themselves how many words they got each round and, at the end of the experiment, hand in a notebook of their achievements and take the corresponding amount of money out of an envelope.

FORBES: 'Stretch goals' tend to stretch all the way into fraud