Following the publication of new rules, EU Member States Ministries of Agriculture are required to publish before April 30 2011 detailed figures on all legal persons (companies) which are beneficiaries of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) funding in 2010.

These CAP transparency rules have been in place for the last 3 years, but the Commission has had to adapt the requirements to exclude the publication of data of natural persons (individual farmers), following a Court of Justice ruling last November.

EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Dacian Cioloş stated that while being convinced that we need to strike a balance between the objective of information and transparency on the one hand, and the fundamental right for the protection of personal data on the other hand, it is important for taxpayers to know how their money is spent within the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

The Commission is currently preparing a proposal for a revised transparency scheme which would duly take account of the judgement. This Court ruling (Joined Cases C-92/09 and 93/09) concerning the obligation to publish information on the beneficiaries of European agricultural funds, the Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that publishing personal data relating to natural persons without drawing a distinction based on relevant criteria such as the periods during which those persons have received such aid, or the frequency or nature and amount thereof, is not proportionate.

Consequently, the Court declared that the relevant provisions are invalid. For reasons of transparency and pending the adoption by Parliament and Council of new rules taking account of the objections expressed by the Court, Regulation (EC) Nº 259/2008 has therefore been amended limiting the obligation to publish information on the beneficiaries of CAP payments to legal persons. Therefore, the European Commission maintains a webpage to facilitate public access to information and the websites linked to are under the control of Member states of the European Union and are not under the control of the Commission services. Thus, the content of these sites is the sole responsibility of the Member states concerned.