Similar to the August fiasco, the money will be recovered because of inadequate control procedures or non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure. The recoveries in this latest case relate to "irregularities communicated by the Member States" of five member states in the period before 1 January 1999.
It is the Member States responsibility to pay out and check expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), while the Commission is required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.
Between the August and the October reclaims, funds will be recovered from Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
In August, the EU executive body underlined that the repayments were not the result of corruption or fraud, but simply of not following the rules under which aid is allowed.
This time around, the Commission considers the Member States to have applied the recovery procedure "negligently", making them liable to bearing the costs of the non-recovery.
For more information:
August 2006 - Commission to recover € 161.9 million of CAP expenditure from the Member States
October 2006 - Commission to recover € 317.3 million in CAP expenditure from the Member States
Related Links on CAP:
EPHA section on a healthier Common Agriculture Policy
Towards a healthy farming and food policy
CAP - What reform for the fruits and vegetables market
Assessing the health impact of Agriculture policies in the EU and the US
EPHA response to the Green Paper on Nutrition, Diet and Physical activity
