Single Farm Payment deficiencies slammed by main EU auditing body

THE European Court of Auditors has criticised deficiencies in the Single Farm Payment (SFP) which it says sees a lot of money being given to inactive “absentee farmers”.

The EU’s main auditing body said the SFP needed to be revised to ensure the money was delivered to those working the land, which might mean the tenants rather than inactive non-farming landowners.

The Court criticised the way the scheme’s beneficiaries are defined as “permitted persons or entities not, or only marginally, engaged in an agricultural activity to benefit from SPS payments”.