The immediate convening of the Standing Committee on Production and Trade, in order for the competent Minister of Rural Development and Food to inform the members of the Committee on its operation OKAYasks o SYRIZAwith a relevant letter to the president of the parliamentary committee.

As stated in the letter, the request is submitted in the light of the problems that have emerged in the last five years and in relation to the relevant actions, which the government intends to undertake, in order to ensure the timely, valid and transparent payment of the EU subsidies of the CAP from OPEKEPE.

The letter is signed by MPs Vassilis Kokkalis, Alexandros Avlonitis, Kalliopi Vetta, Christos Giannoulis, Milto Zambara, Symeon Kedikoglou, Haris Mamoulakis, Nikos Pappa and Theodora Tzakri. The MPs state that answers must be given by the government for:

– the continuous degradation and discrediting of it under surveillance, by the European Commission, OPEKEPE

– the outrageous fines that have been proposed by the European Commission, to be imposed on the country, as a consequence of the mismanagement of EU CAP funds

– the delay in the opening of IACS declarations for the Declaration Reception Centers (KYD), while it operates for farmers’ online applications and the possible consequences of this delay on the farmers’ upcoming payments

– the findings of the domestic and European audit mechanisms on the malfunctions in OPEKEPE, most recently that of the European Court of Auditors, which found “incorrect payment in July 2023”, due to the “use of an incorrect entitlement line of the year 2021, instead of the correct year 2022 “, resulting in approximately 196,083 farmers having to repay 50,755,440.32 euros

“These conditions in OPEKEPE undoubtedly worsen even more the situation of the agricultural world of our country, which is already in dire straits, due to the inconsiderable increase in production costs and the large reduction in production. That is why all possible ways should be sought, which will ensure the orderly, efficient and effective operation of OPEKEPE, so that the Organization can validly, timely and with absolute transparency pay the EU subsidies to our farmers, with sufficient technical support, executive adequacy and orderly administrative operation, while preventing the possibility of the imposition of new unconsidered fiscal corrections-fines by the EU, which ultimately burden the Greek taxpayers as a whole”, state the SYRIZA MPs.

They point out that this is the situation, while “the payments from 2023 and up to 2027 will be carried out within the framework of the National Strategic Plan for the CAP 2023-2027, proposed and implemented by the government and which, as demonstrated in act during the first year of its implementation, needs substantial modification, through a real consultation, with farmers and their organizations, in order to highlight the challenges, possibilities and prospects of Greek agriculture and primarily to work for the benefit of Greek farmers” .