CAP Fraud May03

The majority of European Member States are fraudulently claiming EU agricultural subsidies, according to an announcement from the European Commission today.  The main offenders are France, Italy and Greece.  The money is to be recovered following an investigation by the Commission which shows that Member States have not been implementing the correct controls required by the Common Agricultural Policy.

Neil Parish MEP, Conservative Spokesman on Agriculture in the European Parliament, said:

"The fraudulent use of nearly £120m by other Member States underlines the need for CAP reform to be urgently addressed.  It has been obvious for years that CAP has been riddled with corruption - reform is long overdue.  British farmers play by the rules - they are not being fined.  Other European farmers have been claiming for cattle that don't exist, crops that are never grown, or land that isn't farmed.  This kind of corruption must be rooted out.

We welcome the decision to recover these misspent funds from offenders such as France who owe over £17 million to the European taxpayer.  Let's just hope the Commission has more luck than with the £30 million owed to us by the French over the illegal ban on British beef, which remains unpaid."