Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis provides clear answers to key questions about the €3.7 billion that farmers are set to receive this year. He explains how and when the payments will be made, what amounts will be disbursed in November and December, and what advantages the new payment system brings to the agricultural sector.
He also clarifies why this year’s advance payment of the basic aid is lower than last year’s, as well as the reasons why thousands of parcels were excluded from the advance payment.
Below are the government’s 11 detailed questions and answers:
1. How much money will farmers receive by the end of the year?
Payments from OPEKEPE, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, and the Ministry of Finance will total €3.7 billion, the highest amount ever disbursed.
Specifically:
- OPEKEPE will pay €3.3 billion in 2025, compared with €2.7 billion in 2024—an increase of €600 million, mainly from the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy, which funds crop and farm modernization programmes.
- By 26 November, €1.9 billion had already been paid.
- From Friday, 28 November, the following payments begin:
- Advance payment of basic aid: €363 million
- Rural Development Programme payments: €119 million
- Compensation for smallpox and plague: €56 million
- A further €1.2 billion will be paid by year-end.
December will therefore be a month of substantial financial support for farmers and livestock breeders.
2. Which payment system is being used for agricultural subsidies this year?
For 2025, a hybrid transitional payment and control system—agreed with the European Commission—is being applied. It uses objective data to determine cultivated land and reared animals.
- For land parcels, ATAK numbers must be declared—or KAEK codes in the case of small parcels.
- For livestock, data from invoices for milk and meat sales and for feed purchases are used. These are drawn from ELGO DIMITRA, MyDATA, and E3 declarations.
The old “technical solution” is abolished. Farmers may only activate rights on pastures in the same or neighbouring prefectures—not in far-flung areas.
The goal is clear: subsidies must go to real producers for real production, eliminating virtual leases and fraudulent claims.
3. What benefits does the new system offer to farmers and the country?
The new system provides three key advantages:
- Reliability and transparency in managing subsidies, fully aligned with EU rules—thus avoiding future payment problems or fines for Greece.
- Fair distribution of subsidies, based on real, verified data. Honest farmers and livestock breeders will receive higher subsidies as early as this year.
- No loss of funds: every euro allocated to Greece by the EU will be distributed.
4. Why is the advance payment of the basic aid lower this year?
The advance payment is 25% lower than last year (€363 million vs. €476 million) because it is now calculated strictly on real data—actual farm and livestock sizes. Some reduction also stems from ongoing verification audits.
However, no EU funds will be lost. Once all payments are completed (basic aid, coupled aid, compensatory allowances, ecological schemes), a “second distribution” will follow—benefiting honest producers.
5. Why were 44,343 farmers excluded from the advance payment?
These 44,343 applications showed issues and are under review. If their details are verified, they will be paid immediately after the checks are completed.
Only 2,000 farmers—including some under investigation by the financial police—have been fully excluded from subsidies.
6. Why were thousands of land parcels excluded from the advance payment?
This occurred due to mismatches with satellite imagery.
For example, in seasonal crops such as maple fields, harvesting may have taken place before the satellite images were captured. In such cases, earlier imagery will be used.
Farmers may submit objections, and any parcels confirmed as eligible will be paid later.
7. What will happen with parcels that have no ATAK?
Small parcels (up to 20 acres) without an ATAK could declare their KAEK code instead.
However, 15,116 parcels, mainly in Serres, Drama, and Thessaloniki, declared KAEKs that cannot be verified and are now under inspection.
Producers may file objections, and eligible parcels will eventually be paid.
8. How will the issue of insufficient grazing land be resolved?
The problem affects 5 regions and 13,421 livestock farmers, whose subsidies were reduced because the available grazing land did not match the livestock numbers under the mathematical formula used.
OPEKEPE has been instructed to make supplementary payments so that real producers—those with invoices proving higher production—receive the subsidies to which they are entitled.
9. What can farmers do if they believe their basic payment was miscalculated?
They may submit an appeal through the procedure that OPEKEPE will announce shortly.
10. Does eliminating “pancaking” mean fewer crops and herds will be subsidised?
No. Greece will receive the same total subsidy amount.
Producers who submitted inaccurate declarations will receive fewer subsidies, but the unused funds will be redistributed to honest producers, reinforcing fairness without reducing national subsidy inflows.
11. What are the features of the new system starting in 2026?
The 2026 system will rely heavily on digital technologies to map farmland and record livestock. Inspections will be more systematic and cross-checked with tax data.
Key elements include:
- A new digital geospatial map of the country based on high-resolution satellite imagery and AI, clearly distinguishing eligible from non-eligible areas.
- Electronic tagging of every sheep and goat, with data stored in a new database linked directly to OSSDE and AADE systems.
- A complete Property Ownership and Management Register (MIDAS), consolidating all information from the Hellenic Land Registry and Cadastre—ensuring accurate data on ownership, location, area, and land use.
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