Cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and the Russian Federation in the field of culture, science and education

Report ID: 287

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of their Governments in meeting the objectives set in the Agreements in the Field of Culture, Science and Education, in the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019, the Court of Audit of Slovenia and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, conducted a parallel audit.

The audit objective was to express an opinion on the effectiveness of the auditees, namely the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, in meeting the objectives set in the Agreement on cooperation and the Agreement on centres (audit field). In order to be able to express the opinion, the key audit question was posed, whether the objectives set in the Agreement on cooperation and the Agreement on centres were met. The answer to the key audit question was given by answering the following sub-questions: ·

• Was planning and monitoring of cooperation in the field of culture, science and education appropriate?
• Were objectives set in Agreements and defined in programmes pertaining to the field of culture met?
• Were objectives set in Agreements and defined in programmes pertaining to the field of science and education met.

Source: http://www.rs-rs.si/en/audits-auditing/audit-archive/audit/cooperation-between-the-republic-of-slovenia-and-the-russian-federation-in-the-field-of-culture-sci/

Parallel audit on Contribution of the Structural Funds to the Europe 2020 Strategy in the areas of Employment and/or Education

Report ID: 288

In 2015, the Contact Committee of the heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the Member States of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors mandated the Working Group on Structural Funds to continue its review of issues relating to Structural Funds, more specifically, to carry out a parallel audit on the ‘Contribution of Structural Funds to the Europe 2020 Strategy in the areas of education and employment’.

A parallel audit was carried out by the SAIs of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and the Slovak Republic. The European Court of Auditors and the SAI of Bulgaria acted as observers. The Core Group was chaired by the German SAI, with Malta and the Netherlands as members.  

The parallel audit was carried out in order to examine whether the Structural Funds’ Operational Programmes (OPs) provide the necessary framework to meet the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy and whether funding contributes to these goals. It focused on the audited OPs identified by the participating SAIs, as well as a selection of approved projects that were directly related to education and employment. The comparison of the national results was intended to establish similarities or differences across the Member States, as well as to identify good practice examples.

In conclusion, the participating SAIs concur that OPs provide the necessary basis to support the achievement of Europe 2020 Headline Targets in the areas of employment and education. However, at this point it is too early to confirm that the implementation of OPs in projects effectively contributes to these goals as expected. 

Source: https://www.bundesrechnungshof.de/en/veroeffentlichungen/products/sonderberichte/pdf-ab-2015/2017-special-report-parallel-audit-on-contribution-of-the-structural-funds-to-the-europe-2020-strategy-in-the-areas-of-employment-and-or-education-pdf

Joint report on auditing the implementation of flood protection measures on transboundary waters of Ukraine and Republic of Poland

Report ID: 289

In accordance with the Joint Action Plan between the Supreme Audit Institutions of Ukraine and Poland for the years 2004-2005 and the implementation of the Working Plan of the EUROSAI Environmental Audit Working Group for the year 2005, the above-mentioned SAIs carried out an audit in parallel with the implementation of flood control measures in the border waters of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, countries between which there are international agreements for cooperation in the field of border water management.

The objective of the audit was to assess the implementation of protection measures in the Carpathian region by public authorities and local governments; as well as at the level of intra-state cooperation on transboundary waters. Based on the results of the audit of both SAIs, the joint report was prepared.

Source: https://rp.gov.ua/IntCooperation/IntAudits/?id=813

Joint Report - Providing safety of tourism and recreation in the mountains

Report ID: 299

In 2013 the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) and the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (NKU SR) conducted audits concerning the execution of duties by the entities responsible for the provision of safety conditions in the mountains. The audits were carried out due to an increased probability of accidents on mountain areas and ski slopes, resulting from a growing interest in mountain tourism and skiing on the Polish, as well as on the Slovak side. Therefore, securing safety of persons present in the mountains, including a proper marking of tourist routes, system of information about weather conditions, infrastructure and organising help or rescue of accident victims or persons who are prone to the danger of life or health loss, became of significant importance. Additionally, both SAIs published openly available surveys concerning the subject of safety of tourism and recreation in the mountains on their websites, which enabled to gather the opinions of tourists on the condition of mountain routes. NIK’s audit assessed the way in which safety is provided to persons present in the mountains in touristic and recreational purposes, including the functioning of mountain rescue system and its financing, whereas NKU conducted the audit in order to verify the compliance of the activities of audited entities with the generally applied legal regulations and internal norms, with particular focus on the international cooperation. Both audits resulted in the preparation of two separate reports published by the two SAIs, which were basis for this joint report that contains a comparison of the adopted solutions and joint conclusions and recommendations. Source:

Underlying Risks to Sustainable Public Finances

Report ID: 304

Parallel Audit Report to the Contact Committee of the heads of the SAIs  of the Member States of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors by the SAIs of Finland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden (Coordinator).

The parallel audit project was endorsed by the Contact Committee at its meeting in June 2015. The participating SAIs followed an agreed broad common audit approach allowing them to conduct their audit work according to their national mandates. Each SAI was free to decide the scope, audit questions and methods for their respective audit while recognising the common approach. This parallel audit report is thus a synthesis of six audits conducted independently by SAIs at the national level. It contains general observations and conclusions but no common recommendations.

The aims of the parallel audit was to 1) draw attention to risks that need to be addressed in order to maintain fiscal sustainability based on recommendations from international organisations; and 2) assess how the governments dealt with the recommendations they received.

This audit was based on reviews of country specific reports and recommendations from the European Union (EU), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued in the period 2011–2015, (the audited period). The participating SAIs have mapped the various recommendations to their respective country as well as the government responses to these recommendations. They have furthermore audited the public availability of the recommendations at national level as well as national follow-up procedures. A number of SAIs have moreover assessed the effectiveness of government measures.

A general observation of the parallel audit working group is that recommendations issued by the three international organisations tend to overlap within each country. This might indicate that the international organisations have pinpointed relevant areas of concern. The overall conclusion is that multilateral surveillance of economic policy, even when the recommendations are not binding, constitutes good opportunities for governments to learn from best practices and to improve their policies.

SOURCE: https://www.eca.europa.eu/sites/cc/Lists/CCDocuments/Underlying%20Risks%20to%20Sustainable%20Public%20Finances/Parallel_Audit_Report_EN.pdf