France will have to make the EU a billion euros in agricultural aid – DNA – Latest News from Alsace

France will have to make the EU a billion euros in agricultural aid – DNA – Latest News from Alsace

         

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France will have to make the European Union more than a billion euros in agricultural aid paid incorrectly between 2008 and 2012 due to fraud and error, is it learned Tuesday from the European Commission. This represents about 2% of the approximately 40 billion euros levied by France for this period as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

It will be repaid in three installments until 2017 , said a European source. This amount was finalized at the end of a long period of negotiations

between Paris and Brussels. Initially, the Commission had not excluded to claim up to € 1.8 billion. Fifteen Member States are concerned by this request for reimbursement, but France the biggest sponge slate, which amounted to a total of 1.45 billion, according to detailed figures published in the EU Official Journal.

France is penalized for not enough to check the correctness of payments to farmers, particularly in cross-compliance and calculations of eligible agricultural land. The management of EU agricultural funds and controlling the eligibility of beneficiaries are regularly criticized by the European Court of Auditors. The Commission undertook last year to increase their vigilance

.