EU farm subisidies corruption - what's the plan?
The New York Times published material on the weekend showing how EU farm subsidies support corrupt systems in various central European states. The report comes at a time when the EU member states are discussing cutting back funding for the Common Agricultural Policy and the cohesion policy. Journalists discuss how their countries should respond to these accusations.
Influence thanks to money from Brussels
Sme is annoyed by the attitude of EU net beneficiary countries:
“Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said that the cohesion policy was designed to eliminate inequalities within the EU. In view of how the world is changing, it is really not a priority for the countries of the richest regions in the world to receive even more EU funding. We have just seen how 'effective' cohesion policy is in Thuringia, where 50 percent voted for extremists, even though eastern Germany has received the biggest subsidies in the history of the universe. The far more important - if not only - reason for Orbán, Babiš and Pellegrini holding such meetings is that politicians use subsidies to gain political influence, as the NYT rightly wrote on the weekend.”
Poland also pays for Orbán's faux pas
Polityka calls for Poland to reconsider its relations with Hungary:
“This is another reason to limit our ties to Viktor Orbán. It's not the first time our relations with the Hungarian tyrant have worked against Poland instead of for it. In any case it would be better for Central Eastern Europe as a whole if the voice from Budapest were excluded from the discussions of the Visegrád Group. Because this voice advocates lazy, authoritarian solutions, as was the case in Slovakia under the rule of former prime minister Vladimir Meciar.”
Sweden should join the fight against corruption
The time has come for Sweden to finally join the European Public Prosecutor's Office, demands Expressen:
“Unfortunately Sweden is merely watching while the EU takes up the fight against corruption. Romania's Laura Kövesi was recently appointed EU prosecutor with the task of uncovering fraud involving EU funds. Before the creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the red-green government simply looked on as the Office's powers were watered down, before voting in the Riksdag against Sweden joining the effort. Incidentally, only Poland and Hungary have actively refused to participate in the work of the authority... It is indeed incomprehensible that net contributor Sweden does not want to help in the fight against EU corruption.”