The UK has moved to confirm monies the EU has demanded due to late payments and overshooting financial limits procedures have been paid.

The European Commission issued a statement on its decision to ask European governments to repay funds this week. The UK government has had to repay €3.8m (£3.3m) of European agricultural money due to late payments and overshooting the financial ceilings for 2009 this week.

The move is part of a clawback from 19 EU countries of €578.5m of EU farm money unduly spent. This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure.

A DEFRA spokesperson confirmed in a statement released to FPJ: “The €3.8m reflects late payments made for the 2005-2007 scheme years on a range of aids, including repayment of modulation deductions (‘additional aid’), Single Payment Scheme, protein crops and energy aid which were delayed for a variety of reasons.

“In all cases these payments were made in the 2009 EU financial year (16 October 2008 to 15 October 2009) and the financial impact on the UK has already occurred.”

Under the EU decision, funds will be recovered from a number of countries, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.

According to the EC, the UK government has been asked to repay €3.8m of agricultural money in 2009, while the Netherlands has been charged €28.9m for the absence of a key control concerning payment of minimum price for producers between 2003-2008.

Also charged for late payments and overspending are Spain (€4.8m), Germany (€2m), Greece (€3.8m) and Portugal (€0.5m), among others.

"We are working very hard to achieve the best possible control of farm spending in order to verify that taxpayers' money is not being misspent," said Dacian Ciolos, commissioner for agriculture and rural development.

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