The EU Commission’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, has concluded its investigations into corruption in the disbursement of EU funds through the IPARD II agricultural programme in Albania, with no more disbursements scheduled until 2025.
The IPARD II programme is pre-accession assistance for rural development programmes designed to support rural and agri-food reforms in countries that are joining the EU. Albania benefitted to the tune of €71 million between 2014 and 2020, with IPARD III launched in 2021 with €112 million earmarked for the country.
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The European Commission has ‘interrupted’ payments to the Albanian authorities under the IPARD II agricultural scheme pending the conclusion of an investigation by the anti-fraud office, OLAF, while the Agriculture Ministry said it is part of an administrative process and …
But the scheme was halted in July after it came to light that OLAF was investigating corruption with the way funds were handed out on the ground. At the time, a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv that they have “taken precautionary measures based on the preliminary information provided by OLAF.”
They continued that in terms of funding, “as a preventative measure to protect the financial interests of the European Union, the European Commission has provisionally interrupted the reimbursements to the Albanian authorities for expenditure incurred under the IPARD II programme.”
In August 2023, OLAF finalised its report on the investigation and forwarded it to the Albanian government, with a response expected in due course.
No details of the investigation or its findings have been made public as OLAF said it may jeopardise subsequent proceedings.
“Investigations are ongoing for this case. OLAF closed the investigation in August 2023 and communicated its conclusions to the competent authority with recommendations for initiating appropriate procedures. OLAF has received simultaneous information from the competent authority that has not yet completed the follow-up,” OLAF told Monitor in a statement.
The Ministry of Agriculture posted a lengthy statement on its official website at the time the suspension was first made public, noting they have been “informed of a suspension of the current reimbursement invoice from DG AGRI for part of the next expenses,” adding that this is “a completely administrative process that allows the verification of control systems by accredited structures which will take the necessary measures to continue the normal reimbursement from the EU.”
In the first year, the grants of the IPARD II program supported investments in farms in the milk, meat and fruit-vegetable processing sector.
Due to the investigations, the EU has suspended the launch of the IPARD III program, which was expected to open this year with a fund of €146 million, or 55% more than the IPARD II Program. The next tranche of funds is scheduled to be disbursed in 2025.
(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)
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