Press Release: Commission to recover 350.8 million euro worth of CAP expenditure from Member States

On 5.7.00, the European Commission adopted a decision to recover 350.8 euro million misspent by Member States on agricultural subsidies. Amounts are to be claimed back from the Member States because of inadequate control procedures or non-compliance with the Community rules on agricultural expenditure. The Member States are responsible for paying out and checking virtually all expenditure under the CAP. The clearance of accounts procedure is a vital instrument for controlling CAP expenditure, permitting the recovery of sums paid out without sufficient guarantees as to the legitimacy of the payments made or the reliability of the control and verification system in the Member State concerned.