55.5 mln euro fine for EU fund misappropriation

An audit conducted by the European Commission with regard to EU funding for Polish agriculture has found that Poland must pay 55.5 million euro in fines for irregularities in investments by fruit and vegetable producers.

EU funds were awarded to support producers and help them organize a common market as well aide in building or renovating storage facilities. Instead, the audit claims that funds were often used to start new companies, often by individuals related to each other. The European Commission's second complaint is that the members of the production companies created were often also shareholders of processing and commercial entities between which there was a turnover of these products.

The Polish Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki, does not agree with these accusations, telling Polskie Radio that investigations conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the Agency for Restructurization and Modernization show that the majority of these producers  were already functioning independently before the influx of EU funds. Poland will contest this audit, and if need be, the matter will be brought to the European Court of Justice.

Sawicki pointed out, however, that the European Commission’s decision is not yet final, and can still be reversed.