France will have to pay back €1bn in fines to the EU, mainly for weaknesses in its Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) dating back to 2008.

Almost €700m is directly related to a 2% flat penalty on each year from 2008 to 2013 for mapping issues. Ireland is faced with a similar 2% flat-rate penalty totalling €182m, but continues to appeal the fine. It relates to how Ireland implemented the LPIS system over the last five years.

Ireland was not mentioned in the clearance of accounts corrections published in the Official Journal released this week.

As well as the €700m fine for mapping, France was hit by a fine of just over €140m for weaknesses in its allocation of entitlements and €122m for failures regarding livestock premiums.

It also suffered a cut related to sugar restructuring (€78m) and rural development (€35m).

The other countries that suffered major fines were Romania, which faces a penalty of €128m for weaknesses in land mapping, and Bulgaria, which must pay back over €50m for errors mainly related to land mapping and rural development.