EC fines Czech Republic over irregularities in agricultural subsidies

The European Commission has announced that it will fine the Czech Republic 7.5 billion crowns for failing to observe regulations in the process of distributing agricultural subsidies.

The Commission claims that the Czech Agriculture Ministry disregarded regulations introduced in 2015 which were to guarantee that EU agricultural subsidies would only be granted to firms which could prove that at least a third of their profit came from agricultural activities.

An audit conducted late last year found that the Czech authorities failed to comply with this regulation in the period between 2025 and 2017.

The Czech Agriculture Ministry denies the lapse and has started negotiations aimed at getting the European Commission to reverse its decision.