EU wants CAP monies back
A total of EUR265.02 million of EU farm money unduly spent by member states is being claimed back as a result of a decision adopted by the European Commission. This money is being returned 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.
Commenting on the decision, Dacian Cioloş,, commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, says: “We are working hard to achieve the best possible control of farm spending in order to verify that taxpayers money is not being misspent.”
Under this latest decision funds will be recovered from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom. The most significant corrections are: EUR137 million charged to the United Kingdom – England, for weaknesses in the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS-GIS), in the administrative procedure as regards controls and cross checks, deficiencies in the risk analysis, and for incorrect calculation of payments and sanctions. Another EUR52.4 million is also charged to England for insufficient checks of beneficiaries under the investors category of the National Reserve, transcription errors, absence of control with regard to new farmers. In Northern Ireland, the EU seeks to recover EUR33.7 million for weaknesses related to the LPIS-GIS, and in on-the-spot checks and deficiencies in the application of regulatory sanctions. Hungary will have to pay back EUR11 million for incorrect exchange rate and value added tax incorrectly included for establishing the purchase value of white sugar into public storage.
