EU court awards Greece deferred farming subsidies

The European Union Court of Justice has ruled in favor of awarding a total of 435 million euros in farming subsidies to Greece after upholding Greek appeals against previous convictions that had led to the aid being withheld.

The court made two decisions, one issued on February 13 and another on April 30, in response to two appeals by Greece's State Legal Council.

The decision released last week concerned 166 million euros in subsidies.

The aid had been withheld after the European Commission deemed that Greek subsidies approved for agricultural pastureland between 2009 and 2012 had contravened European regulations. 

Greece had argued that pastures in Mediterranean countries are different from Central and Northern Europe and that Southern nations should therefore be entitled to use different criteria for subsidizing them.