A delegation from the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee, known by its acronym CONT, arrived in Athens on Monday for a three-day visit to examine fraud involving EU agricultural funds administered through the now defunct OPEKEPE, Greece’s national agricultural payments agency, and to assess the corrective measures Greece plans to put in place.
The delegation, led by Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (EPP), includes Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE), Lucia Annunziata (S&D, IT) and Rasmus Nordqvist (Greens/EFA, DK). Four Greek MEPs are also part of the mission: Georgios Aftias (EPP), Yannis Maniatis (S&D), Emmanouil Fragkos (ECR) and Konstantinos Arvanitis (The Left,).
The visit runs through May 28 and will include meetings with Greece’s minister for rural development and food, senior officials responsible for agricultural payments, public revenue, transparency and audit, as well as representatives of the agricultural sector and journalists. A press conference is scheduled for noon on May 28 at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Athens.
“Our goal is to openly and seriously assess the current state of the investigation and to have a clear discussion about responsibility, transparency, and public trust in the use of European funds,” Zdechovský said ahead of the visit. The talks will also cover the structure of the long-term EU budget and how to better protect European funds from misuse.
Witness Exclusions Draw Sharp Criticism
The visit has not been without controversy. SYRIZA MEP and vice president of the Left group, Konstantinos Arvanitis, has alleged that key figures with firsthand knowledge of the scandal were excluded from the delegation’s schedule, with the final agenda reflecting the preferences of the EPP and the ruling New Democracy party. Arvanitis specifically cited the exclusion of Dimitris Moschos, a livestock farmer who had filed formal complaints about the scandal, and Dimitris Bikas, a former employee of the Ministry of Rural Development proposed by the Left as a witness. He also flagged the absence of the head of Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue, George Pitsilis, and the exclusion of Grigoris Varras, the former head of OPEKEPE who subsequently served as an adviser to the prime minister.
The inclusion of Paraskevi Tycheropoulos in the delegation’s meetings was, according to Arvanitis, secured only after sustained pressure from the Left group with support from other political groups.
Arvanitis claimed in his statement to the press that such practices had no precedent in past European Parliament delegation visits. “Even in missions to Poland and Hungary on rule-of-law issues, there had been no such attempt to control proceedings in order to shield the government,” he said.
