The Brussels authority accuses Austria of not having made the distinction between alpine regions and arable and grassland areas correctly. That is why the Commission intends to withhold a sum of EUR 68 million from the next direct agricultural payments.
“We see ourselves in the right and will have it examined by the European Court of Justice,” said the department head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Johannes Fankhauser, yesterday. It is about the years from 2015 to 2019. At that time, 3.5 billion euros flowed to Austria as direct agricultural payments, of which 68 million are now objected to.
Across Austria, there are around 8,000 managed alpine pastures with 310,000 hectares of pasture. There are higher subsidy rates for alpine pastures than for grassland and arable land. Alpine pastures are those areas that cannot be farmed all year round due to the altitude and the resulting climatic conditions. Austria relies on this support system, which was worked out with the EU during the reform of the common agricultural policy in 2014, said Fankhauser.
However, auditors of the EU Commission in 2018 criticized the lack of “Alm delimitation”, which caused the authority to take action and is now withholding payments.
Interim financing from the Ministry of Finance is to be used for the failed sum before the ECJ makes a decision. It is said that there are “no reclaims” of funds for alpine farmers. (Rome)
Source: Nachrichten
