Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas kicked-off a debate on Wednesday (3 May) over whether member states should disclose the beneficiaries of the €86.6 billion of EU money distributed every year to farmers, fishermen or NGOs carrying out humanitarian projects abroad.
Presenting his 'Green Paper' on a European Transparency Initiative, the Anti-Fraud and Administrative Affairs Commissioner from Estonia said he was "surprised" at how little information is currently made available to the public on these issues, due to "explicit confidentiality" rules.
Information on beneficiaries of EU money spent jointly with member states is currently in the hands of national governments, says the Commission, which points out that "any disclosures on the subject are left to their discretion".
At stake is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which still absorbs some 40% of the Community's annual €100 billion euro budget.
France (22% of total CAP payments in 2004), Spain (15%) and Germany (14%), who currently receive the largest chunk of agriculture payments, have all decided not to publish information on beneficiaries. Of the big agricultural states, only Italy (12%) has decided to publish this information, along with the UK (9%).
