Poland will get a bill from the European Commssion to pay back 79,9 million euro “unduly” spent from the agricultural political funds. 13 other EU member states will be asked to pay back incorrectly used funds.
In a recent press release, the Commission states that a total of €230 million of EU agricultural policy funds, unduly spent by Member States, is being claimed back under the so-called clearance of accounts procedure. However, because some of these amounts have already been recovered from the Member States, the financial impact of today’s decision will be some €227 million. This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure.
Member States are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Commission is required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.
Under this latest decision, funds will be recovered from 14 Member States, the most significant individual corrections are:
- € 83.6 million charged to Greece for non-compliant reduction of the minimum yield for the dried grapes;
- € 79.9 million charged to Poland for deficiencies in the check of the initial application and in the approval of the business plan for the Semi-subsistence farms measure.
Member States are responsible for managing most CAP payments, mainly via their paying agencies. They are also in charge of controls, for example verifying the farmer’s claims for direct payments. The Commission carries out over 100 audits every year, verifying that Member State controls and responses to shortcomings are sufficient, and has the power to claw back funds in arrears if the audits show that Member State management and control is not good enough to guarantee that EU funds have been spent properly.
Source: EU Commission
