ATHENS – Unless a comprehensive plan is in place by Oct. 2 to keep agricultural funds from being given to people who are ineligible for them, Greece could lose European Union subsidies, with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigating corruption.
— Greece risks losing its EU farm subsidies unless it provides an improved action plan by The EU is trying to stop the bleeding of hundreds of millions of euros siphoned off and named two former ministers as being involved – but the governments said they won’t be investigated despite the breadth of the scandal.
The scam defrauded the EU of subsidies given recipients for pastureland they did not own or lease, or for agricultural work they did not perform, depriving legitimate farmers of the funds they deserved. POLITICO first reported on the scheme in February
https://www.tovima.com/climate/athens-turns-to-drilling-as-water-reserves-drop-63/.
Greece has supplied an action plan on how it would address the staggering amount of unlawfully-given subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for a third of the EU budget.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI), in a letter sent to the Greek government last month and now seen by POLITICO, said that proposal had failed to address key deficiencies and did not comply with EU rules.
“After analyzing the action plan and the additional information provided by the Greek authorities in your letter of June 2, 2025, DG AGRI is of the opinion that the plan, as currently proposed, is not sufficient to remedy the deficiencies and therefore does not comply with the provisions,” the letter said.
It added Greece should “amend and strengthen” its action plan. “It is recalled that if a Member State fails to submit an action plan, the Commission may adopt implementing acts suspending the monthly payments or the interim payments,” it added.
Greek Agriculture Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras reassured farmers that there was no risk of losing European funds, and expressed confidence that Greece’s new plan would allay the EU’s concerns, the news site said.
He said that the organization in charge of distributing EU farm funds in Greece, OPEKEPE, is now in the final stages of being integrated into Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue, which will allow comprehensive verification of property records and cross-checks before payments.
“The deadline has to do with the submission of a new plan, which will obviously be incorporated into the implementation of the Action Plan,” he said. “There is no risk of losing EU agricultural funds.”
Government rivals said there is a cover-up going on to protect those involved in the ruling New Democracy. “The same cover-up tactics we saw in (previous cases) continues, with key witnesses being excluded, whom the EPPO has used but New Democracy is protecting,” Milena Apostolaki, an MP from the center-left PASOK party, said.
