Press Release: Control of agricultural spending: Commission launches procedure to reduce payments to Greece

The European Commission launched the procedure aimed at reducing by 10 percent the payments to Greece for area-based agricultural and rural development aid measures because of continuing shortcomings in its national control system. The shortcomings concern principally the existing Greek Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which is ineffective due to outdated and inaccurate data. An accurate LPIS is, however, essential to ensure the correct management and control of area-based payments. In order to remedy the shortcomings of their existing LPIS, the Greek authorities committed themselves in the context of an Action Plan established in spring 2006 to set up a new operational LPIS by the end of 2008. A recent audit by the Directorate-General for Agriculture shows that this key element of the Greek Action Plan is presently not on schedule.