Fraud involving EU agricultural subsidies was uncovered last weekend by Follow the Money (FTM), the investigative journalism platform. It is still unclear whether prosecution will follow. Nor is it known if subsidies wrongly granted in previous cases have been repaid.
The ministry therefore advises landowners to apply for subsidies for their land themselves before fraudsters unjustly claim use of their land. Landowners are also advised to register their land only if it is actually (co-)used for agricultural purposes.
If all landowners register their land themselves, they will notice if the land has already been registered by others, which may indicate fraud. Owners can do this on a website of the Dutch government agency RVO, which manages the distribution of European agricultural subsidies.
Investigative journalists at FTM reported that the RVO website clearly shows which areas have not yet been applied for. Some farmers are taking advantage of this. In 2017, Staatsbosbeheer (which owns and manages large natural and rural areas) reported that farmers had incorrectly registered thousands of hectares of land under their names.
It appears this is still common practice. "If farmers wrongly claim land to obtain agricultural subsidies, that is fraud and therefore punishable," said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture.
However, it is impossible for the subsidy administrator to check all subsidy applications for fraud and enforce regulations. After all, millions of small parcels of land are in use in the Netherlands, some under verbally agreed usage contracts. The ministry and RVO will actively address landowners on this matter in the coming months. They also want to discuss this problem with the agricultural sector.
This is not the first time Dutch agriculture has come under scrutiny for improper use of European subsidies and non-compliance with EU rules. Previous cases in the Netherlands involved fraud with (trade in) manure, registration of calves, fishing, and in the eggs and poultry trade.
The main cause in most fraud cases seems to be that EU rules must be implemented and controlled at the national level by the EU member states themselves, and that in most cases the Dutch government delegates this control to sectoral market organizations. In most cases, the respective industry has significant control over this.