Implementation of the Rail Baltica Project Cooperative Audit

Report ID: 252

In 2014, the governments of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania established the Rail Baltica joint venture—an equally-shared endeavor ratified in a 2017 intergovernmental agreement. Rail Baltica, to be delivered by 2026, is the largest railway infrastructure project in the region and aims to integrate the Baltic States with the European railway network.

In 2016, the SAIs of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania signed a Memorandum of Understanding to monitor the development and implementation of this unique and unprecedented project.

The audit focused on project governance, internal control system operations, as well as long term financial resource availability. Because the audit was based on a forward-looking approach, the audit team looked to analyze particular conditions, such as assuring an effective, economic procurement and contract management framework was established, functioning and able to address any deficiencies found during the audit.

Fieldwork began in 2018, and the audit team, consisting of at least two auditors from each SAI, examined the audit questions and criteria and agreed on main conclusions, which became the audit report’s basis. A steering committee (one representative per SAI) was instituted to decide on any significant issues arising during the audit.

Each SAI separately performed a quality control check at the audit’s end but jointly drafted the final report, which was electronically signed by all Auditors General and simultaneously published in all three Baltic States.

The joint audit led to recommendations that will improve the Rail Baltica project’s governance, operations and financial planning, and the SAIs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will continue the already established cooperation to jointly monitor audit recommendation implementation.

Source: https://www.eurosai.org/en/databases/audits/Implementation-of-the-Rail-Baltica-project/

International Coordinated Parallel Audit of Public Debt Management Information Systems

Report ID: 254

During 2013-2014 the Supreme Audit Institutions of Brazil, Bulgaria, Fiji, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Yemen, and Zambia carried out the International Coordinated Parallel Audit of Public Debt Management Information Systems under the current Strategic Plan of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt (WGPD). The SAIs of China, Egypt, Mexico and Russian Federation took part in the project as observers.

The audit was conducted on the basis of the Common Parallel Audit Programme 1, elaborated in 2012 by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine (as parallel audit coordinator), according to the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) and best national practices. Summaries of national audit reports, developed by the participating SAIs within the framework of the parallel audit, complement the Joint Parallel Audit Report.

The parallel audit was focused on assessment of efficiency of Public Debt Management Information Systems (PDMIS) functioning in jurisdictions of the participating SAIs. The primary objective of the audit was to ascertain:

• whether the management and control processes of national Public Debt Management Information Systems were in place, and
• whether the reviewed information systems were equipped with adequate general and application controls and if they were properly implemented.

Joint Report on EUROFISC Cooperative Audit

Report ID: 255

Since 2011, EU Member States have implemented EUROFISC, an early warning system, which enables them to share information on suspected companies and their customers. EUROFISC increases the chances of national administrations to detect fraudsters in due time. The quality of data, IT support, response times and response rates of the Member States, however, need to be enhanced to effectively combat VAT fraud within the EU.

The current value added tax (VAT) system in the European Union (EU) provides opportunities for intra–Community fraud that all Member States have to deal with. This is sufficient reason for the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the EU to address this topic. Due to its European dimension, the SAIs considered it necessary to cooperate in their audit activities. Consequently, a number of coordinated audits were conducted during the last years within the EU.

The SAIs of Austria, Germany and Hungary carried out a coordinated audit in 2013 and 2014 by each SAI in its territory and according to its own mandate. Their audit activities resulted in national reports for each of the three participating countries, and a joint report. The joint report presents the overall and synthesized conclusions and recommendations supported by the relevant audit observations of the participating SAIS. The audit period covered the years 2011 to 2013.

COORDINATED PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Report ID: 256

Due to the serious environmental situation and high vulnerability of countries in the region,  the SAIs of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru, members of the OLACEFS Technical Commission on ENVIRONMENT (COMTEMA) agreed in 2009 to perform a coordinated audit on climate change.

The audit had as general bbjective to assess the performance of governmental bodies responsible for implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the countries of the region.

The specific objectives of the coordinated audit were:

- Examine the compliance with the commitments established in the United Nations Framework  Convention on Climate Change regarding the implementation of governmental policies, plans, programs and actions.

- Determine whether governments have developed appropriate mitigation strategies and plans for complying with the commitments of the Convention and evaluate the progress attained.

- Determine whether governments have developed adaptation strategies and plans related to vulnerability assessment to the impacts of climate change and whether policy instruments have been implemented in response to risks identified.

The audit took place between 2009 and 2011. It followed the guidelines for cooperative audits of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (WGEA-INTOSAI). Hence, there were individual audit teams and individual reports in each SAI, but a common research framework. Main sources of audit criteria come from articles 4 and 12 of UNFCCC and article 12 of Kyoto Protocol.

The findings of the coordinated audit indicate progress in the implementation of UNFCCC commitments and point out aspects to improve, especially in relation to the efforts and measures towards the reduction of vulnerability in natural and anthropogenic systems facing current and potential effects of climate change.

WGEA Coordinated International Audit on Climate Change

Report ID: 257

In June 2007, the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Audit embarked on a coordinated audit because of the economic, social, and environmental significance of governments’ work to address climate change challenges. The project involved 14 SAIs—from developed countries, countries with economies in transition, and developing countries—and included Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For this project, the SAIs cooperated in the design  and undertaking of national audits of their respective governments’ climate change programs and performance. Each SAI undertook one or more audits (in some cases, studies and reviews) in the fields of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and/or climate change adaptation to determine whether their governments were doing what they said they would do. During this period, 10 SAIs of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), a regional working group of INTOSAI, also undertook joint audit work focused on climate change. The findings of the 33 national audits and the EUROSAI audit work are included in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively.

The report draws on the findings of the 33 audits of national implementation of climate change programs. It summarizes the key findings from this work and aims to:

• report on whether governments are (or are not) doing what they said they would do;

• encourage governments to take, improve, and/ or strengthen proper and effective actions;

• assist legislatures in holding governments to account;

• inspire other SAIs to undertake audits of climate change and coordinated audits and to help them by raising awareness of appropriate audit techniques; raise awareness of the important role that supreme audit institutions play in bringing accountability to governments that are implementing policies and actions related to greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation.

Source: WGEA website http://www.environmental‐auditing.org.