Brussels, 21/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a special report published on Thursday 20 September, the European Court of Auditors criticises slackness in controls on goods which give rise to the payment of export refunds. The amount paid in refunds by the Community budget has fallen over the last few years, but remains considerable: €3 billion in 2005 (compared with €9.8 billion in 1988) and 2.5 billion in 2006.
Export refunds are subsidies paid to exporters of agricultural products to...