The European Commission appears to have been unaware of the Greek Agriculture Ministry’s decision to pull the plug on the 2024 subsidy program for organic farming. Sources in Brussels, in fact, told Kathimerini that officials learned about it from the Greek press, saying they should have been officially informed. 

The ministry halted the program last week after checks found that “an overwhelming percentage” of beneficiaries did not comply with the criteria for funding. “If we don’t carry out these inspections, we risk the inflow of European resources,” Minister Kostas Tsiaras said, announcing fresh checks on whether standards are being met.

Over in Brussels, however, Commission sources noted that the EU’s executive needs to be informed whenever European agricultural subsidies are going to be being withheld or redirected. “The Commission had not received any such notification by October 7” from Greece, they added.

Source: Ekathimerini.com