Greece hit with record EU fine over mismanagement of farm subsidies
The European Commission has ordered Greece to forfeit €392.2 million in agricultural funding, citing chronic failures in the management and oversight of EU farm subsidies between 2016 and 2023. The move marks one of the largest financial penalties ever levied on an EU member state under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The Commission’s findings, formalized in Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1147, point to “systemic irregularities” within OPEKEPE, Greece’s payment agency for agricultural funds. These include insufficient eligibility checks, lax inspections, and delayed recovery of ineligible payments — practices Brussels now considers entrenched and structural.
Under the ruling, the EU will withhold roughly €392 million from future CAP disbursements to Greece, a significant blow to the country’s farming sector. The two largest annual penalties relate to area-based payments in 2021 and 2022, totaling €79 million and €76 million respectively.
A flat-rate correction of 5% has been imposed across all Greek direct subsidies. That figure increases to 10% for certain schemes, such as “young farmer” payments from 2018–2020. These penalties affect a wide range of funding programs — including eco-schemes, voluntary coupled support, and small farmer initiatives — all of which were deemed noncompliant with EU standards.
According to the European Commission, successive Greek governments have failed to implement necessary reforms or maintain effective administrative and field-level controls. The decision comes on the heels of a March 2025 ruling by the General Court of the EU, which upheld a previous set of financial corrections and ordered Greece to cover court costs.
With Greece set to receive approximately €1.9 billion in CAP direct payments this year, the withheld funds represent a substantial shortfall, impacting thousands of farmers who rely on EU support to sustain their operations.
Though the decision does not directly reference the ongoing investigation into fraudulent pastureland claims by self-identified “young farmers,” it adds pressure to a Greek agricultural system already under scrutiny by EU prosecutors.
The Greek Ministry of Rural Development had reportedly anticipated the Commission’s move and submitted formal explanations, which were ultimately dismissed by the EU executive.
