The European Commission has asked Greece to return 123.3 million euros, as part of the procedure to clear accounts for agricultural expenditure. In total, the Commission has asked for 230 million euros from its 14 member states, as part of the expenditure control of the Common Agricultural Policy.
These sums will return to the EU budget, due to non-compliance with community rules or for inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure. The member states are responsible for collecting and controlling expenditure as part of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Commission is obliged to ensure the appropriate use of the funds by each member-state.
In the case of Greece 83.6 million euros are for non-compliance with reduce the minimum price for raisins, 8.9 million euros for insufficient inspections of livestock and not updating cattle identification and documentation databases on time. A further 23.8 million is claimed for inadequate registers and inspections of sheep and goats. Finally, 6.1 million euros are claimed for inefficient spot checks in agricultural development and 800,000 euros as provided by a previous European Court decision.
