The money was wrongly spent as agricultural policy funds. The countries will have to return the funds to the EU budget because they somehow broke EU rules.
The biggest amounts are being claimed from the UK and Poland. Both of them will have to pay back 40 million euros.
Under this latest decision, funds will be recovered from 15 Member States: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Finland and the United Kingdom. The most significant individual corrections are:
Member States are responsible for managing most CAP payments, mainly via their paying agencies. They are also in charge of controls, for example verifying the farmer's claims for direct payments. The Commission carries out over 100 audits every year, verifying that Member State controls and responses to shortcomings are sufficient.