On August 6, 2023, investigative news website Follow The Money (FTM) reported that numerous Dutch farmers have been falsely presenting other people's land as their own to obtain

European subsidies. The issue initially came to light in 2017 when the national forestry commission, Staatsbosbeheer, discovered that thousands of acres of its land had been fraudulently "claimed" by farmers on paper. Unfortunately, the problem persists to this day.

Since the discovery in 2017, Dutch authorities have found that 231 farms have applied for EU subsidies using farmland that they do not actually own. The wrongful claims have extended beyond Staatsbosbeheer's land, including properties owned by the infrastructure ministry, natural heritage organization Natuurmonumenten, and others, according to FTM.

The extent of the problem may be even more widespread, as there are few checks in place to verify land ownership claims. The Dutch public prosecution department stated that given the current operation of the subsidy system, effectively addressing the fraud is challenging.

In response to the situation, the farm ministry has urged landowners who are not engaged in farming to officially register their properties with the Netherlands' Enterprise Agency RVO. This measure aims to prevent farmers from making false claims on these properties when applying for subsidies through the RVO portal. However, it's worth noting that the RVO IT system is not connected to the official land registry office Kadaster, where all land ownership is formally recorded. This lack of integration between the systems may contribute to the ease with which false claims are made.

As authorities grapple with this issue, efforts to combat fraudulent land claims for EU grants continue, and stricter measures are being called for to ensure the integrity of the subsidy system.