Brussels extends deadline on OPEKEPE farm subsidy agency transfer

The European Commission has granted Greek authorities a six-month extension, pursuing Athens’ request, to implicit the integration of the outgo and audit functions of OPEKEPE, the Greek Payment and Control Agency, into the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).

The Commission besides confirmed a two-month extension, until October 2, for Greece to update its enactment program addressing deficiencies successful OPEKEPE, aft the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG Agri) deemed the archetypal program inadequate.

A Commission spokesperson told Kathimerini that the timeline is sufficient to submit a revised program and debar suspension of workplace subsidies.

He explained that the lawsuit dates backmost to September 2024, when Greek authorities suspended the accreditation of OPEKEPE for 12 months.

“At the petition of the Greek authorities, we extended this suspension play by different six months, until aboriginal March,” helium said.

The extension, helium noted, allows clip to hold connected an enactment program that includes treatment of a imaginable transfer of OPEKEPE functions to AADE.

The spokesperson acknowledged vexation successful Brussels, saying, “It is clear, and to enactment it very simply, the cultivation funds ended up successful the wrong hands and this is surely something that needs to beryllium corrected.”

Asked if the EU would retrieve misallocated funds, helium pointed to a compliance determination past June, when the Commission recovered astir 500 cardinal euros from Greece.

Despite concerns, the Commission expressed restitution with ongoing consultations and stressed that Greece has complied with procedural requests.

“So far, we person nary crushed to presume that the updated enactment program will not beryllium submitted connected time,” the spokesperson said.