The European Commission has recently decided to claim back a total of €180 million of EU agricultural policy funds unduly spent by Member States. The member states are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the CAP. The Commission verifies, under the conformity clearance procedure, whether the Member States have made correct use of the funds. In fact, the European Commission carries out, every year, audits aiming at verifying whether Member State controls and responses to shortcomings are enough. It has therefore the power to claw back funds when audits show that the funds have not been spent properly.
The UK will be charged with €40.4 million for weaknesses related to the Land Parcel Identification System – Geographical Information System (LPIS-GIS), to the on-the-spot checks and to the payments and sanctions in Scotland and €18.6 million for deficiencies in the allocation of entitlements.
The money will return to the EU budget. Hence, it will further increase the UK contribution to the EU budget. It is important to mention that the Pink Book 2013 shows the substantial increase in the UK's contributions to EU institutions. The UK’s net contribution to the EU has been substantially increasing since 2002. Whereas in 2002 the UK’s net contribution to the EU was £2.9 billion, £3.7 billion in 2009, £7.2 billion in 2010, £7.5 billion in 2011, it reached £9.5 billion in 2012.
