Recovery of unpaid funding by beneficiaries of EU funds

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the issue of pursuing claims for payment by beneficiaries of EU funds. The author analyzed the jurisprudence of Polish courts in cases concerning EU funds, as well as literature devoted to these issues. Based on the article, the issue of legal bases of beneficiaries' claims related to the refusal to pay EU funds on the basis of co-financing agreements is analyzed. Attention was drawn to the important role of compensation and payment proceedings as legal instruments enabling the fulfilment of the Member State's tasks in the prevention of irregularities. The issue of the possibility of treating unpaid funding as damage in the sense of lost profits was also analyzed. The article discusses the grounds of causation between the improper operation of the institution refusing to pay the subsidy and the damage suffered by the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries on the basis of a co-financing agreement may pursue both claims for payment, i.e. for performance of the service, as well as claims for damages. Claims for damages require proof of damage and a causal link between the unlawful act of the institution and the damage. Damage may also be an amount equivalent to the value of the grant that the beneficiary would have obtained if it had not been for the improper performance of the contract by the institution.