The farm subsidies scandal in Greece has taken a new turn as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has announced that it has submitted evidence to the Greek Parliament concerning the alleged involvement of two former ministers of agriculture in the misappropriation of European Union funds via OPEKEPE.
OPEKEPE is the agency responsible for administering EU agricultural subsidies to Greek farmers. The government announced last month it would shut it down, following revelations over fraud with EU farm subsidies.
“The EPPO has an ongoing investigation into an alleged organized fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption involving public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE),” the European prosecutor said in a statement.
“During this investigation, information emerged concerning the possible involvement of two former ministers in aiding and instigating the misappropriation (breach of trust) of EU agricultural funds during the exercise of their official duties.”
According to sources, the individuals involved are former Agriculture Minister Makis Voridis, who now serves as Migration Minister, and Lefteris Avgenakis, who is now an MP.
According to the EPPO, evidence emerged during the investigation suggesting the possible involvement of the two former ministers in facilitating and instigating the misappropriation of EU agricultural funds while they were in office.
Greek law stipulates that only the Parliament can investigate and prosecute serving or former members of the Greek government.
“The EPPO had to comply with the applicable national law, which forbids the EPPO to investigate and prosecute serving or former members of the Greek government,” it said and added: “However, in our view, this limits the EPPO’s competence, in breach of the EPPO regulation. As this is a matter of compatibility between EU and national law, the EPPO has already reported this to the European Commission.”
Greece fined €400 million for farm subsidies scandal
Εαρλιερ ιν τηε ςεεκ the European Commission announced it is to withhold €392.2 million in EU farm subsidies to Greece following the scandal. OPEKEPE is being accused of distributing subsidies to individuals who were either not farmers or received disproportionate payments for their livestock.
Greece was found to have made disbursements without adequate eligibility checks or necessary on-site inspections, creating a pattern of non-compliance that prompted Brussels’ intervention in a farm subsidy scandal in Greece.
The withheld funds correspond to ineligible or poorly controlled expenses, particularly within Greece’s implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Beyond lax oversight, issues included delays in recovering incorrect payments and instances of artificially created subsidy conditions.
Consequently, a blanket 5 percent correction was applied to all Greek direct subsidies, increasing to 10 percent for young farmer schemes (2018-2020), with significant penalties targeting 2021 (€79 million) and 2022 (€76 million) area-based payments.
Greece was expected to receive approximately 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in direct EU subsidies in 2026, but this will be cut by 25 percent to account for the 392.2 million euro fine for payments made in breach of rules and legislation.