Bulgaria to Return EUR 23 000 in Unduly Spent EU Agricultural Funding

A general view of European Commission flags in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 February 2013. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The European Commission is to recover from Bulgaria a sum of EUR 23 000 in unduly spent EU funds under the Rural Development Program.

According to the EC press room, Bulgaria is asked to return the sum due to deficiencies in timing of the on-the-spot checks and sample selection.

A total of 22 EU Member States, including Bulgaria, will have to return a total of EUR 414 M in unduly spent EU agricultural policy funds under the so-called clearance of accounts procedure.

The most serious financial corrections of nearly EUR 112 M apply for the UK, followed by Italy with EUR 48 M, and Spain with EUR 40.6 M.

EU Member States are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Commission is required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.

This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure.

According to the media statement of the EC, because some of these amounts have already been recovered from the Member States the net financial impact of today's decision will be some EUR 393 M.

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