Lights on in the Nordic countries - Nordic cooperation in electricity emergency preparedness (Abstract)

Report ID: 368

In 2008, the  national audit offices of Finland, Denmark and Norway conducted a parallel audit, in order to examine Nordic cooperation in electricity emergency preparedness to respond to large-scale disturbances in the grid and to repair damage effectively. The audit also examined national preparedness for emergencies in electrical supply and emergency planning. 

The national audit offices of Finland, Norway and Denmark concluded that there is not sufficient cooperation among the Nordic countries regarding preparedness to repair serious damage to the grid. Consideration should be given to whether repair preparedness cooperation in case of a serious disturbance in the Nordic electrical system should be given priority and strengthened as part of Nordic electricity emergency preparedness. In the national audit offices' opinion, consideration should also be given to linking the responsible national authorities more clearly to Nordic electricity emergency preparedness.

The document contains a summary of the main results of the audit.

Source: https://www.vtv.fi/app/uploads/2018/07/09131416/lights-on-in-the-nordic-countries-176-2008.pdf

Managing interventions in case of sudden pollution in the Adriatic sea – International Parallel Audit

Report ID: 391

From November 2019 until June 2021, the Supreme Audit Institutions of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia conducted an international parallel audit on managing interventions in case of sudden pollution in the Adriatic Sea.

As a result, the SAIs signed a Joint statement addressing the urgency to adopt measures aimed at strengthening prevention and management response systems in the case of marine pollution. The environmental risk requires cross-border cooperation for emergency management to be implemented through the adoption of a common emergency response plan for all the States bordering the Adriatic Sea and the organisation of joint exercise programs.

The document is a compendium of short summaries of individual audit reports published by contributing SAIs. Full audit reports and other materials of each individual SAI can be found by following the links provided after each short summary.

Source: https://www.rs-rs.si/en/public-media/news/news/meeting-of-heads-of-supreme-audit-institutions-in-trieste-to-sign-a-joint-statement/

Public Procurement in Western Balkans Synthesis Report on the Parallel Performance Audit

Report ID: 392

The Joint Working Group on Audit Activities (JWGAA) was established in 2002 with a mandate to contribute to maintaining the working links and cooperation between the SAIs in the Contact Committee and the Presidents’ Network (candidate and potential candidate countries). The main goal of the group’s activities is to facilitate cooperation between the current and future member SAIs, to provide support and to help exchange experience in the process of institutional development, transition and negotiation on EU accession Chapter 32 (the ability to assume the obligations of membership in the area of financial control).

The Parallel Performance Audit (PPA) project under the umbrella of the JWGAA was initiated in 2014 (as PPA 1), when the member SAIs received training and coaching on performance audit practice. Based on experiences from this pilot project, a PPA 2 project was launched in 2016, to conduct a PPA of Public Procurement, an area generally susceptible to fraud and corruption, and as such, it is often the focus of attention from the general public.

From April 2016 to September 2017, the SAIs of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia, supported by the ECA and the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO), which co-chairs the JWGAA, conducted a parallel audit aimed to identify system problems related to public procurement, and suggesting possible ways in which these problems can be tackled by their respective governments.

The audit environment of the six SAIs is characterized by a common historical heritage and a similar bureaucratic culture, a transition process, and ongoing reforms on the way to EU integration. The report presents a synthesis of general findings and conclusions from the parallel audit as well as how this cooperation process was developed.

Source: http://www.dri.co.me/1/doc/Synthesis%20Report%20on%20the%20parallel%20performance%20audit%20of%20public%20procurament%20in%20Western%20Balkans.pdf

The results of inspection of utilization effectiveness of state funds allocated for consequences elimination of emergencies

Report ID: 394

The tendency towards the increase of number of emergencies and events, which injure people, damage territories and yield losses to economies, has predetermined the urgency of the issue of providing anthropogenic and ecological safety for societies and territories. Underestimation of harmful factors, as well ass absence of timely compulsory measures is the reason for disastrous consequences, which could have been avoided. This means that health and lives of millions of humans depend on the way functioning of the state general system for prevention and response to disasters and catastrophes is ensured.

During the XIX INTOSAI Congress in Mexico City, the heads of the SAIs of Ukraine and Kazakhstan signed an agreement in order to continue bilateral collaboration that comprised an activity plan for 2008 – 2009. The plan stipulated that both SAIs shall conduct parallel inspections of planning, disbursement and utilization effectiveness of state budget funds, allocated for consequences elimination of emergencies, including anthropogenic disasters.

Among other, the results of inspection showed the inadequacy of communications, warning and information systems of authorized agencies in the area of prevention and consequences elimination of disasters and catastrophes, civil defense, being and important strategic objects of people protection.

Source: https://rp.gov.ua/upload-files/IntCooperation/IntAudits/RI_2008-2009.pdf

Joint Report on the Results of Parallel Audits of Excise Duty Administration in the Slovak Republic and in the Czech Republic (in Czech)

Report ID: 404

Legislation in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia on excise duty and its administration complies with EU legislation and exceeds EU requirements substantially. Differences have been discovered between Slovak and Czech excise duty regulations: in the Czech Republic, verification of the economic stability of applicants for permits and mandatory labelling and dyeing of several mineral and some other oils contribute to effective excise duty administration; in Slovakia, the distribution of excise stamps is simpler than in the Czech Republic and less of a burden on excise duty administrators. In the fight against excise duty evasion, supervising the movement of raw tobacco or tobacco materials, the implementation of the institute of a transport fuel distributor, and keeping a registry of merchants of consumer packaged alcohol appear to be a good practice in the fight against excise duty evasion. Excise duty revenues in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia grow more slowly than other tax revenues

In August 2015, The Supreme Audit Institutions of  Czech Republic and Slovakia agreed to conduct parallel audits aimed primarily at excise duty administration an signed an Agreement for this purpose. The topic of the parallel audits was chosen because both EU Member States follow common European legislation on this matter, thereby providing an opportunity to ascertain how European legislation is applied on a national level, how the excise duty administration system is set up, and how the system in Slovakia and the system in the Czech Republic differ.

The audit questions on which the parallel audits were based were agreed jointly. The parallel audits aimed to compare the performance of the excise duty administrators while taking into account qualitative and quantitative indicators and identifying weaknesses in the excise duty administration process. Answers to the following audit questions in particular should have been sought:

- Have excise duty administrators in the Czech Republic and Slovakia been attaining comparable values of qualitative indicators while incurring comparable costs?

- Has implementation of the EMCS1 resulted in more effective excise duty administration and has been spending on its implementation effective?

- The joint final report on the audit results was drawn up in accordance with ISSAI 300 - Fundamental Principles of Performance Auditing

Source: https://www.nku.cz/assets/publikace-a-dokumenty/ostatni-publikace/spolecna-zprava-kontrola-spotrebni-dane-cr-sr_cz.pdf

English report: https://intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/joint-report-on-the-results-of-parallel-audits-of-excise-duty-administration-in-the-slovak-republic-and-in-the-czech-republic