Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan today hit out at European Union auditors, claiming that their actions are “inhuman and immoral" and undermine faith in Europe.
Mr Vaughan said: “Each year the FUW deals with scores of cases where penalties have been applied to members’ businesses by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).
"These are often a result of individuals making innocent and inconsequential errors, sometimes as a result of exceptional circumstances, such as severe illness or family tragedy. These penalties result in financial losses that compound what are often tragic family circumstances.”
Mr Vaughan added that he had no objection to penalising businesses for genuine reasons where individuals had acted irresponsibly or fraudulently, but blamed EU auditors for WAG’s harsh interpretation of EU rules.
“WAG officials live in a climate of fear, generated by the threat that EU auditors will find fault with a decision, irrespective of any moral justification, resulting in Wales having to pay millions in fines to Europe, known as ‘disallowance’,” said Mr Vaughan.
“In many of these cases all parties acknowledge that the circumstances are exceptional, and that the penalty is effectively immoral. Yet officials claim that EU regulations make no allowance for extreme conditions, and that penalties must therefore be applied in order to avoid the auditors imposing massive fines.”
Mr Vaughan also hit out at a recent hike in Cross Compliance penalties imposed following auditors’ recommendations.
“Rather than recognising the very shaky moral ground that they occupy, the auditors have added to injury by insisting that fines must be increased.
“This completely inhuman attitude to genuine errors and situations arising as a result of human tragedies is morally indefensible, and completely undermines any faith in the European Union being a proportionate and fair institution.”
Mr Vaughan has already discussed the union’s concerns with EC officials and has written to rural affairs minister Elin Jones requesting a meeting to discuss the matter.