The European Commission stated that France had to return a total of 1,450 million Euro that it received between 2008 and 2012 in agricultural aid because of fraud and errors.
The amount represents 2 percent of the 40,000 million Euro that France received in this period under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The country will have until 2017 and three instalments to return the money, said a European source.
Spain must return 30.5 million Euro, Romania 128 million, and Italy 97 million. The Court of Auditors of the EU regularly criticizes the management of EU agricultural funds.
In total, the Commission has requested 15 Member States to refund money. According to figures published in the Official Journal of the EU, France would have to pay 1,450 million Euro as a penalty for not properly verifying the need for aid granted to farmers, particularly regarding some environmental protection criteria and the calculation of eligible agricultural land.
Source: Hortoinfo