The European Commission has ordered the Czech Republic to recover more than €25 million in unlawful subsidies granted to large agricultural firms—exposing serious breaches of EU state aid rules and sparking a battle over fair competition.
Following an investigation, the Commission found that subsidies issued in 2018 as part of a disaster relief program for farmers had been wrongly allocated to several large companies. The scheme was intended to help crop and livestock producers guard against natural disasters and extreme weather.
The Czech government had allocated approximately €25.8 million to the programme. However, investigators found that several large agricultural firms had been incorrectly classified as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), making them ineligible for support under the EU’s 2014 guidelines on state aid in agriculture, forestry, and rural development.
As a result, the Commission has ordered Czech authorities to recover the misallocated funds—with interest—to restore fair competition in the internal market. Reclaiming unlawful state aid is standard EU procedure aimed at neutralising any unfair advantage.
