FEAGA and Feader Corrections 2026: What Paying Agencies Must Assume

Key data

Several EU Member States must assume from their national budgets certain agricultural expenses that the European Commission has decided to exclude from European reimbursement. The Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1323, published on 16 June 2026 and in force since 12 June, applies financial corrections after detecting irregularities in the control systems of EAGF and EAFRD funds.

For farmers and beneficiaries who have already received aid, there is no immediate direct impact. The blow falls on paying agencies: they will not recover the excluded amounts from Brussels and, unless they recover unduly paid amounts from final beneficiaries, the cost falls on the national or regional public purse.

What does this regulation establish?

The compliance clearance procedure is the mechanism by which the European Commission reviews whether Member States have correctly managed European agricultural funds. When it detects deficiencies, it excludes the affected expenses from reimbursement.

Decision 2026/1323 applies this mechanism to expenses from two funds:

• EAGF (European Agricultural Guarantee Fund): finances direct payments to farmers and market measures (intervention, storage, promotion, etc.).
• EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development): co-finances rural development programmes, agri-environmental measures, farm investments and other structural measures.

Irregularities that may lead to exclusion include:

• Deficiencies in the control and management systems of paying agencies.
• Unduly paid amounts to beneficiaries who did not meet the requirements.
• Non-compliance with the conditionalities required by European regulations.

Once excluded, the amounts cannot be passed on to final beneficiaries unless it is proven that the payment was undue and the corresponding recovery procedure is initiated.

Economic and operational impact

The direct economic impact falls on the budgets of paying agencies in the affected Member States. The decision does not specify in the available data the total amount excluded for each State, but the Commission's compliance financial corrections in decisions of this type usually range between tens and hundreds of millions of euros across the affected countries.

For Spanish paying agencies —the FEGA (Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund) at state level and regional paying agencies— the operational consequences are as follows:

• Excluded amounts must be recorded as non-reimbursable expenses and covered with own budget.
• The exclusion creates a precedent that increases Commission scrutiny in future audits.
• If excluded payments correspond to beneficiaries who did not meet requirements, the paying agency must initiate recovery procedures, with the administrative and legal costs involved.
• Detected control deficiencies require reviewing and strengthening internal systems to avoid further corrections.

Who does it affect?

• State paying agencies: in Spain, FEGA, dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
• Regional paying agencies: the agriculture departments of autonomous communities that directly manage EAGF and EAFRD funds in their territories.
• National administrations of other Member States affected by the decision.
• Advisors and consultants on European agricultural funds who work with paying agencies or with aid beneficiaries subject to possible recoveries.
• Farmers and aid beneficiaries who have received potentially irregular payments: although they have no immediate impact, they may be affected if the paying agency initiates recovery procedures.

Practical example

A regional paying agency managed during the audited period a rural development programme co-financed by EAFRD. The Commission detects, during compliance control, that the system for verifying beneficiary requirements had systematic deficiencies: eligibility conditions were not correctly verified in a significant percentage of files.

As a result, Decision 2026/1323 excludes from European reimbursement the expenses corresponding to that programme in that paying agency. The excluded amount —which in similar cases may represent a fixed percentage (for example, 5% or 10%) of the declared expense in the affected programme— must be assumed entirely by the regional budget.

If the paying agency cannot prove that the payments were undue, it cannot claim those amounts from the beneficiary farmers. The cost falls on the regional taxpayer and requires the department to review its control procedures to prevent the Commission from applying similar corrections in the next audit cycle.

What should administrations do now?

1. Verify whether Spain is among the Member States affected by Decision 2026/1323, consulting the full text published in the EU Official Journal and identifying the specific paying agencies and programmes mentioned.
2. Quantify the budget impact: identify the excluded amounts and their effect on the affected paying agency's budget.
3. Review internal control systems: analyse the deficiencies detected by the Commission and design an improvement plan to avoid further corrections in future audits.
4. Assess recovery of unduly paid amounts: if the excluded payments correspond to beneficiaries who did not meet the requirements, initiate the recovery procedures provided for in national and European regulations.
5. Communicate the impact to internal control bodies (internal audit, regional court of accounts) and provide for the necessary budget coverage.
6. Strengthen coordination with FEGA at state level to align control criteria and reduce the risk of further exclusions in the coming years.

Official source

Consult full regulation in official source

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/./legal-content/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L_202601323