Portugal forced to return €88.9 million for incompetence

Right: ex-minister Jaime Silva

ex-minister António Serrano

Portugal will have to return to Brussels almost 89 million euros allocated to agriculture due to a series of failures and blunders in the national control of the payments of the so-called direct aid in the years 2007 and 2008.

The decision will be formalized today (Friday) by the European Commission 

and represents the end of a process which took place mainly during the socialist government of José Sócrates, when the agriculture was under the tutelage of Jaime Silva 

and later of António Serrano, but  unfortunately whose budget effects will only be felt this year.

Another classical example of the "timebomb" the socialist government of José Sócrates 

left for future governments and future generation to pay the mess of his government's incompetence!

The main problem detected by controls carried out by the European Commission on how the system works,  was the Portuguese control of the areas declared by Portugal as eligible to receive this money were often exaggerated. This is because the national system uses old aerial images 

and ground control was done with delays and were incomplete.

Often the data of subsequent spot checks were integrated into the system with a two-year delay, 

and cases were detected where paths, fences and bushes zones were counted as agricultural areas which could benefit from this money. Often payments were made to farmers before the data checks were completed.

Typical of how corruption were rife in all areas of action.

These irregularities began to occur with particular acuity from 2005 and 2006, 

years in which the European Commission 

imposed on Portugal "corrections" corresponding to 5% of direct payments 

(from 2006 the penalty amounted to EUR 45 million).

The fact that, 

in the eyes of the Commission, 

Portugal has not acted effectively enough 

to solve the problem 

and recurrence of some failures 

which constituted an aggravating circumstance 

that led to the doubling of that fine of 10% of total direct aids the years concerned 

(61.4 million euros in 2007 

and 59.5 million in 2008, 

totaling more than 121 million euros).

Incompetence of these socialists which has a direct effect on the current budget

88.9 million euros to be paid back to the European Commission.

Hard to observe these ex-ministers, now opposition socialist deputies in Parliament, maintain a "holier-than-thou" attitude, 

critizing the austerity measures imposed on Portugal by the "troika" 

and implemented by the current government. 

Cleaning up the mess left behind 

by the disastrous socialist governance of José Socrates,

has been extremely painful for Portugal!