EU reclaims the money for misspent farm subsidies
Greece will have to return -38.17 million to the European Union for misspent farm subsidies, the European Commission said yesterday. Thirteen other EU member states must also return a further -248.1 million, with Spain and Britain the worst offenders. The bulk of the amount Athens must repay (-35.8 million) stems from irregularities confirmed in 2004 in the management of the system for direct farm subsidies, relating mainly to late checks. Another -1.9 million corresponds to inadequate receipts in the period 2003-2004. The refunds mainly apply to fruit and vegetables, acreage-based payments and export subsidies.
