EU to return about 280 mln euros to Greece in court case over pastures

The European Commission will return about 280 million euros to Greece that Brussels had initially recouped from Athens arguing it had been paid as subsidies for pastures, in breach of EU law.

In a ruling issued on February 13, the EU's Court of Justice accepted Greece’s appeal which argued that, in Mediterranean countries, pastures are defined by different criteria than those of central Europe.

The case dates back to 2015 when the Commission found that the Greek government’s allocation of EU funds for pastures in the period 2009 -2012 was illegal.

Greece, which lost an appeal at the EU’s General Court, resorted to the Court of Justice.