‘Let’s not see such practices again’
To the need to completely reveal the pathogens that have been in the operation of OPECEPE And to put a definitive end to illegal practices the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Costas Tsiarasspeaking at PARAPOLITICS FM 90.1.
“Unraveling the tangle in the OPECEPE case is our minimum obligation to society. Too bad for the opposition that, instead of sending a stable pedagogical message, follows this attitude“, The minister underlined, criticizing those who, he said,” overtake the big picture and focus on a micro -political confrontation. “
Mr Tsiaras described the organization’s interconnection course with AADE as “a process that is methodically done, step by step and with great care”. As he noted, “the aim is to maintain OPECEPE’s basic philosophy of operation as a body of Community resources and to ensure that its new era of operation has the main characteristics of absolute transparency and justice in the management of European resources.”
Referring to the results of the audits that have been done to date, the Minister of Rural Development revealed the following: “We have found, in over 30,000 VAT cases, cases of producers that, in the ecological regimens, had submitted more than 49,000 fake certificates. This is a pathogenesis that had not been treated in the past and we must definitely deal with it now. “
According to him, the problem of organizations that distribute European resources “is more general in the EU” and the need for transparency is imperative. “Transparency must be the main feature in their operation. The steps we have taken are visible. We are making specific efforts and we will continue, “he noted.
For the ongoing controls in organic farming and livestock farming, Mr Tsiaras stressed that cross -checks are now being carried out everywhere – at the CPD Centers (CYD), the Certificates of Certificates and the Farmers themselves. As he said, “the pumping of data by the Financial Police and the AADE, in order to complete the intersections, entails a 1.5 month delay in payments. However, beneficiaries will not lose their money. “
He also added that this delay is also related to his decision not to make payments for biological livestock and beekeeping in late June, unless the checks were completed first. “There is a daily race, with real research and intersection of data, to pay for terms and rules of transparency,” the Minister of Rural Development said, noting that there are cases of people who may have taken large sums and be real beneficiaries without a question. “Therefore, the innocent should not be cautious, but also to immediately refund illegal money from those who received it without being entitled to them,” he commented.
Mr Tsiaras reiterated that it is a “given political will” by the government and the ministry “never allow such practices and behaviors to OPECEPE and European resources”.
Finally, he referred to the Common Agricultural Policy, assuring that the OPEKEPE case would not affect the resources that Greece will receive from the EU to the new CAP. As he pointed out, “the CAP will remain a strong financial pillar for social cohesion and the primary sector. Our country will receive what it is entitled to, as in previous years, something that the European Commission President, Ursula von der Layen, also confirmed. “