The European Commission sent a letter to the Romanian authorities on July 9, 2008, announcing that all payments in the SAPARD program for 2008 are stopped because of deficiencies in the management and control system. The amount blocked rises to some 200 million Euros. The Commission demanded a plan of action for solving the existing problems, to be ready before August 31.
The letter, signed by the EC general manager, Jean Luc Demarty, and addressed to Alice Batu, authorization officer in the Finance Ministry, announces the ceasing of all payments in the SAPARD program for 2008, due to deficiencies signaled between 3 and 10 June by an audit mission conducted in Romania by DG Agri.
