The Court of Auditors has conducted an investigation into subsidy payments during the period 2014 through 2019, a time when Copenhagen was also promoting the modernization of the agricultural sector. It is concluded that successive ministers also covered up the misuse of EU funds during that period.
When granting subsidies, there was a maximum amount per application. Because agro-conglomerates, slaughterhouses, and pig breeders split their applications by location, these maximum limits could be circumvented.
This came to light in May in the report from the National Audit Office, which sharply criticized the payments of EU aid to the Danish Agricultural Agency.
The National Audit Office concludes that the Danish Agricultural Agency has for years failed to verify who owns the farms receiving EU support.
In this way, farmers were able to split their business into two, three, or at least four different VAT numbers to receive up to four times the subsidy.
The generous Danish support and subsidy rules have already been subject to criticism and commentary in recent years, which among other things led to the dismissal of several senior officials and the resignation of a minister.
Because of the Audit Office’s report, the current Danish government is now also confronted with the consequences. According to the investigation, Brussels can reclaim wrongfully paid European subsidies from Denmark.