This fraud case became a major scandal in the European Union, revealing a systemic problem of misappropriation of funds over the years, after exploiting weak institutional controls. The ease with which land was falsely registered and the alleged collusion of authorities raise serious questions about the transparency of state structures responsible for managing public funds. Learn more.
Greek Parliament approves investigation into billion-dollar fraud in EU agricultural subsidies
The Greek parliament has voted in favour of setting up a committee that will investigate a government agency handling EU agricultural subsidies since 1998, following a scandal in which Greek farmers for years faked land ownership to receive the aid.
European prosecutors have found indications that farmers and state officials allegedly defrauded the European Union of subsidies for the use of pastureland at least since 2019. In June, they referred the case to parliament – the only body that can investigate politicians – on suspicion that two former agriculture ministers from the ruling, centre-right New Democracy party, were involved in the case. They have both denied wrongdoing.
The case is hurting the popularity of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, which came to power in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023 with a majority, polls show. Greek media reports have pointed to clientelism, or the trading of resources for political loyalty, as possibly motivating the fraud.
The delay strategy is denounced by the opposition
Opposition parties criticized the decision to limit the scope of the investigation to just the operations of OPEKEPE — since its creation — because the action was seen as a political strategy. The argument for this is that the government is more interested in diluting current responsibilities by diverting attention from decades of the agency’s operations. There is concern that this will favor impunity for political figures, due to the proximity of the prescription periods.
Late on Tuesday, parliament approved the government’s proposal to set up the committee to investigate the agency OPEKEPE, founded in 1998. The government controls 155 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The main opposition, the Socialist PASOK party, which has 33 seats, and other leftist parties rejected the plan, accusing the government of stalling and digging up the past to cover up its responsibility.
Risk of impunity in the case of subsidies
They want a more powerful committee set up that can directly charge ex-ministers and will focus on the European prosecutors’ case, instead of OPEKEPE’s operations over the years. They fear that delays could lead to the write-off of potential crimes under a statute of limitations. Mitsotakis told parliament Greece has paid nearly 3 billion euros in EU fines related to the misuse of the farm subsidies over the past decades, calling OPEKEPE an “open wound” whose ills were timeless.
The investigation is seen as necessary to understand the entire fraud scheme and how it managed to consolidate itself over time. There’s a narrative that this problem spans the administrations of different parties, but this approach ultimately diminishes the chances of effectively holding the public officials directly mentioned in the complaint accountable.
As the political battle rages, institutional distrust grows
This entire fake farmers scandal is yet another exposed episode of corruption, reflecting the erosion of political practices and Greece’s integrity in managing European funds. Parliament is clearly divided on the issue, pressure for transparency is increasingly intense, and this could be an important factor in changing how countries report to the EU. With the case in the spotlight, the institutional response will be crucial to restoring credibility with citizens and international partners. Now Greece has to deal with the billion-dollar fines paid by the EU, and we can only wait to see how this case will unfold.
GCN.com/Reuters