PASOK: Social insurance debts must not be withheld from EU subsidies to farmers

The provision was tabled as a rider to the Administration Reform ministry's bill on accessibility and use of information of state transactions, under discussion currently.

The deputies argued that the subsidies for land and animals are disbursed to farmers to write off part of the cost of production, therefore they cannot be counted as income. In addition, they said, EU Regulation 13306/2013 forbids any withholding of subsidies and explicitly states that they must be deposited in their accounts and be used only to support production.

Also included in the amendment is a provision that farmers' outstanding obligations to OGA be offset by expected payments owed them by the state or individuals. A special OGA bank account should be set up for direct deposit by farmers, who may also authorise the insurance and pension fund to collect on their behalf the remainder of outstanding debts from agencies scheduled to repay them within the year. If all these options fail, OGA can certify the outstanding amount and turn it over to the debtor's tax office, which will collecting it as state debt and turn it over to OGA.

Signees of the bill include former prime minister George Papandreou and several former ministers.