Greek farm fund scandal to impact discharge of Commission's budget
German Green MEP Daniel Freund was commenting on the "fake farmer" fraud scandal, a sprawling case that has triggered political turmoil in Greece and raised questions over the management of EU agricultural subsidies.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) announced in May that it has an ongoing investigation into an alleged organised fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption involving public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).
Five high-ranking Greek government officials, including a minister and three deputies, resigned on Friday following allegations of involvement in the case, which stems from the alleged mismanagement of EU subsidies for agriculture between 2019 and 2022 by OPEKEPE, a government agency tasked with handling the funds.
According to the EPPO, a "significant number of individuals" received subsidies through the agency based on false declarations, including claims of owning or leasing pastures that were in fact public land.
'In September 2024, Greek authorities placed OPEKEPE's accreditation on probation, and an action plan was designed to address the deficiencies identified,' a European Commission spokesperson told Euronews, adding: 'The Commission is working closely with the Greek authorities in this context.'
Freund called on the European Parliament's budget control committee to investigate whether the alleged fraud points to deeper structural issues in Greece's management of EU funds.
'This issue will for sure play a role into the discussion on the discharge of the Commission's budget after the summer,' he said.
The Commission said it could not comment on ongoing EPPO criminal investigations or criminal trials.
Under EU law, member states must accredit only those paying agencies that meet minimum standards for managing EU funds, and if an agency fails to meet these conditions, it must be placed under probation and eventually stripped of its accreditation.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has publicly acknowledged the scandal as 'evidence of the state's inadequacy' in addressing corruption, pledging to establish a special taskforce to conduct a swift and thorough investigation. 'Clientelism cannot govern the way we conduct business,' he told his cabinet, vowing that 'since OPEKEPE didn't manage to do its work, the state will do it centrally.'
In June the Athens-based EPPO referred to the Hellenic Parliament information regarding the alleged involvement of two former Ministers of Rural Development and Food in criminal offences. The Greek Constitution provides that only the national Parliament has the power to investigate and prosecute serving or even former members of the Greek government.
This legal limitation has forced EPPO to split its investigation, a move the office argues undermines its mandate under EU law. EPPO has reported this issue to the European Commission, suggesting that national legal protections for ministers could limit the EPPO's competence and therefore be in breach of the EU's prosecutorial framework.
Former agriculture minister Makis Voridis, who was serving as migration minister until recently, was one of those who resigned last week.
'I hope that the Greek Parliament lifts the immunities of MPs involved, in order to allow a proper investigation,' Freund said.
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