A total of €346.5 million (£305.2m) of EU farm money improperly spent by member states is being claimed back by the European Commission, with a significant chunk heading from the UK.
The EU clawed back money due to non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure. The UK has to pay back £15.9m for failure to meet the statutory deadlines for direct payments.
Member states are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the EC is required to ensure that member states have made correct use of the funds.
Dacian Cioloè®, commissioner for agriculture and rural development, said: “This exercise remains a very important instrument in making sure that member states have sufficient controls in place to ensure that taxpayers' money is properly spent."
The main countries hit by the ruling are Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK.
Among the hardest hit were Spain, which was asked to pay £41.8m for ineligible costs and for weaknesses in the control system in the fruit and vegetables sector and Poland, which received a demand for £81m for various weaknesses in area aids for the years 2006-07.
National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall put pressure on the CAP this week. Speaking at the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, he said: “While the current economic crisis may preoccupy the thinking of Europe’s politicians, Europe’s agricultural sector is central to several major strategic challenges: producing safe, affordable food for a growing world population, mitigating the impact of production on natural resources and the climate and contributing to Europe’s future energy security. It needs to mitigate against the impact of climate change, as well as protect farmers and growers against increasing market price volatility. We agree entirely with the report from George Lyon MEP that a strong CAP is needed in light of these challenges.
“The NFU has reiterated its support for a CAP to do exactly what it says on the tin; it needs to be common to ensure a level playing field across all sectors and all member states and it needs to focus on helping farmers and growers meet the massive food production and environmental challenges that lie ahead.
“In an ideal world, the long game would be to move farming to a place where it is much less reliant on public income support.”
