Three quarters of the 3.1 billion euro squandered in irregular agricultural payments from 1971-2002 has not been recovered due to inefficiencies at both Member State and Commission level
Published:
23 September 2004 y., Thursday
Three quarters of the 3.1 billion euro squandered in irregular agricultural payments from 1971-2002 has not been recovered due to inefficiencies at both Member State and Commission level, according to a new report.
The two billion euro plus in fradulent payments is not being recovered or written off, due to weaknesses both in Brussels and in Member States, according to a new report published today by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Some of the deficiences highlighted by the report include: delays by Member States in notifying the Commission and discrepancies in the data provided.
The ECA also blames "national administrative delays" and "the Commission's reluctance to accept offers of partial settlement".
When CAP (common agricultural policy) payments of more than 4000 euro are found to be "irregular" or fraudulent, Member States must notify the Commission and attempt to recover the payments.
If the payments cannot be recovered, and the Member State was not negligent in the matter, the costs are covered by the EU or written off as unrecoverable.
David Bostock, an ECA member who presented the report, said in a statement, "recovery of reported irregular payments is disappointingly partial and slow".
The fraud is concentrated in the export and fruit and vegetable sectors, said the ECA.
Šaltinis:
EUOBSERVER
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Today, the Commission published a Communication which outlines the most serious tax problems that EU citizens face in cross-border situations and announces plans for solutions.
more »
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation under EU state aid rules to examine a number of support measures, including several capital injections and shareholder loans, that the Hungarian authorities granted to Malév-Hungarian Airlines in the context of its privatisation and subsequent renationalisation.
more »
Internet and lax customs enforcement drive growth of 600 billion US dollar counterfeit goods industry.
more »
350 million people rose out of poverty in the past decade, but 1.4 billion are still extremely poor, says the latest report into rural poverty.
more »
New plan sets out action to reach 75% employment target for the EU by 2020.
more »
Research Ministers of the EU Member States and Associated Countries, together with the European Commission, are announcing in Brussels today three new pan–European energy research infrastructures.
more »
Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Audit and Anti-fraud, is visiting Moscow today to discuss ways in which customs cooperation between the EU and Russia can be reinforced.
more »
Following on from Monday's debate with ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, MEPs on Tuesday adopted a resolution, by a show of hands, gauging the ECB's performance in 2009 and suggesting actions to be taken in view of the economic situation.
more »
The European Parliament today approved €10.5 million in European Globalisation Adjustment Fund aid to over 3,000 people in the Netherlands who lost their printing and publishing sector jobs last year, due to the economic crisis.
more »
A diamond-studded gold coin engraved with a picture of the Taj Mahal and worth 100,000 euros is unveiled at the Paris mint.
more »