From 2009 – 2010, 15,000 Polish farmers received subsidy payments from the EU that we too high. However, owing to a technicality, most will not have to return the grants.
The problem occurred as the farmers over-calculated the size of their acreages when applying for grants. It has been estimated that in total, the farmers who have escaped having to pay the refund received up to 6 million zloty (1.4 million euros) more than they should have done. The original data was processed by Poland’s Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR), which verified over 210,000 grant candidates in 2009-2010. However, ARiMR cannot demand a refund of the excess money if the sum handed out was only up to 100 Euros more than it should have been. Owing to this, over 14,000 farmers will not have to pay any refund, while just 867 households are now compelled to return the excess money. Meanwhile, the Agency has revealed that some of the 867 farmers who have been ordered to repay the excess money are appealing against the decision.
Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna
