Brussels, 19/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Although the audit revealed the existence of good practices, “the weaknesses found by the Court of Auditors have hampered optimal achievement of the main objectives of agri-environment, namely contributing to EU-level priority areas (biodiversity, water, climate change) and improving the environment and the countryside”. The Court of Auditors of the EU came down hard on the effectiveness of the agri-environmental measures of the EU (€2.5 billion a year in EU funding), in a special report it adopted on Monday 19 September. The European Commission has pledged to remedy the problems in its proposals on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
The Court observes that the objectives laid down by the member states are too great in number and too unspecific to determine whether or not they have been achieved. The Court also attempted to determine whether the member states were in a position to argue that money allocated to agri-environmental payments was in proportion to the pressure on the environment. This was the case for two of the eight member states audited (Austria and Sweden), but not for the others, either because the relevant information was not available (Poland, Hungary and Piedmont), or because the expenditure did not correspond to the pressure highlighted (Andalusia, Berlin and Brandenburg, France) according to the auditors' report.
The Court also identified “considerable” problems with the levels of aid. Simple calculation errors representing up to 8.5% of the totals were noted in Andalusia, Piedmont and Sweden. Several member states (including Poland) used obsolete data to calculate the aid. The “most significant” problem was found in France, for measures aiming to maintain meadows to protect biodiversity. (LC/transl.fl)