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Gaps and inadequacies in the management of Vaud agricultural subsidies

Published on November 20, 2024 at 10:04. / Modified on November 20, 2024 at 10:10.

  • According to an audit by the Court of Auditors, the processes for managing agricultural subsidies are “non-existent or incomplete”.

  • Several cases described by the auditors show that monitoring and controls also pose a problem.

  • Although paid for this task, the Vaudois Agricultural Credit Office has discreetly stopped its field visits.

First come, first served. This is the criterion for granting agricultural subsidies in the canton of Vaud. For magistrate Valérie Schwaar, this practice “does not guarantee an optimal ratio between cost and utility”. According to the audit of the Court of Accounts made public this Wednesday, “inadequacies” appear in a third of the subsidy files examined by the Vaudois Agricultural Credit Office (OCA) and the General Directorate of Agriculture and Viticulture and veterinary affairs (DGAV). The vocabulary is severe. These two entities do not respect several legal bases, including the obligation to include sustainability criteria in the analysis of projects supported by public money.

After six framework credits approved since 2010 for a total of 193 million francs, this is the first time that the management of these essential subsidies to the agricultural world has been analyzed by the Court of Auditors. These land improvements are co-financed by the Confederation. The canton of Vaud devotes a little more than ten million francs to it each year, with an upward trend. Requests are examined either by the State, through the DGAV when they come from municipal authorities, or by the OCA, a subsidiary of Prométerre, when they are submitted by operators. According to the Court, the processing of files is rapid, and the projects analyzed all present “an agricultural interest within the meaning of the law”.

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