Joint Report on the parallel audit "Protection of the waters in the Bug River catchment area from pollution"

Report ID: 269

In 2006, the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Poland and Ukraine conducted a parallel audit “Protection of the Bug river drainage basin waters against pollution”. The audit was conducted based on cooperation agreements signed  among the three participating SAIs.

Before audit commencement, in February 2006, SAI – audit members agreed and signed “Joint position on the scope of parallel audit regarding protection of the Bug river drainage basin waters from pollution” and methodology (goal, scope, audit criteria, procedures, etc).

The parallel audit objective was to analyze and assess:

− The international cooperation as regards pollution protection of cross-border drainage basin waters of the Bug river, implementation of assumptions and leading recommendations of the pilot project regarding the implementation and assessment the pollution of cross-border drainage basin waters of the Bug river, in accordance with the provisions of Convention of the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes,

− Investment activities undertaken in order to improve the purity of the Bug river drainage basin waters as well as effectiveness of utilization of financial funds allocated for such activities.

The audit covered the period of 2003 – 2005 and 2006.

Source: https://rp.gov.ua/upload-files/IntCooperation/IntAudits/31-12-2008%2010-00-00/Zvit_Protection_Bug.pdf

Joint Report of the Paralllel Audit to the implementation of the NATURA 2000 NETWORK in Europe

Report ID: 271

Natura 2000 is an EU wide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 Habitats Directive.

As stated in the European Commission strategy to protect Europe's most important wildlife areas, the aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It comprises Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated by Member States under the Habitats Directive, and Special Protection Areas (SPA) designated under the 1979 Birds Directive.

From february to october 2007, the SAIs of Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, and United Kingdom participated in the audit, coordinated by the French Cour des Comptes with the technical  assistance of the European Court of Auditors.

The scope of the audit on implementation of the European Natura 2000 network was to  examine whether and how the provisions of the European Directives, and especially Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, were observed in an effective and efficient way. The audit examined three key elements, namely compliance, governance and funding.

Joint Report on the Results of the Parallel Audit of Implementation of the Agreement on Transboundary Water Issues Signed by the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Government of Ukraine

Report ID: 272

The SAIs of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine carried out the Parallel Audit of Implementation of the Agreement on Transboundary Water Issues signed by the Government of the Slovak Republic and the
Government of Ukraine.

The purpose of the audit was to verify and assess:

- implementation of the Agreement on Transboundary Water Issues signed by the Governments of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine;
- adherence to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.

The Joint Report includes the summary of the findings made on the Slovak and Ukrainian sides, as well as joint conclusions and recommendations concerning the issues of the water management development in the area of Slovak-Ukrainian transboundary waters.

Source: https://rp.gov.ua/upload-files/IntCooperation/IntAudits/31-12-2007%2009-00-00/Zvit_water.pdf

Report on the Results of the Parallel Audit of the Administration of Value Added Tax in the Czech Republic and in the Federal Republic of Germany

Report ID: 275

Based on an agreement between the SAIs of Czech Republic and Germany, both SAIs conducted a parallel audit on the administration of value added tax (VAT). Besides the main point – exchange of information based on the Council Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 and the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1925/2004 – the audit covered other topics as for instance the registration of taxpayers,

VAT returns and recapitulative statements that are closely linked with it. Additionally, the legal situation in terms of international bus transportation of passengers and the comparison of certain statistical data were part of the audit.

In Czech Republic, the objective of the audit was to review the procedure used by financial authorities in administrating value added tax following integration of the Czech Republic into the common internal market of the European Community (hereinafter “EC”), connected with free movement of goods and services, and to review the use of the VIES1, particularly monitoring the exercise of the right to exempt intra- Community deliveries from value added tax.

In Germany, the objective of the audit was to review the system of intra- Community VAT control with a special focus on administrative cooperation in the field of VAT according to the above mentioned regulations. As a result of this, weaknesses should be reported and recommendations be developed to address the problems stated.

Source: https://www.nku.cz/en/audit/coordinated-audits/

Joint Report on Parallel Audits of Expenditure on the Construction of the Motorway Prague – Dresden

Report ID: 276

In 2005 and 2006, the two supreme audit institutions of Germany and the Czech Republic conducted parallel audits of expenditure on the construction of the motorway Prague – Dresden (D 8 motorway in the Czech Republic and the A 17 motorway in the Federal Republic of Germany).

The motorways are connected by a border bridge co-financed by the two countries. By working together SAI Germany was able to audit in depth the efficiency of the funds used for building the border bridge. As a result of working closely SAI Czech Republic  was furnished for comparative purposes with the necessary data of German cost levels of bridges and tunnels.

As part of the joint audit effort motorway bridges on the D 8 and A 17 were compared based on the prices per square metre of area of the bridge structure. The statistical analysis of prices made it possible to identify bridges that came at a high cost per square metre. This analysis revealed that the border bridge was the most expensive bridge as compared to other large bridges having a length of over 100 metres. The price increase could also be attributed to the delays occurred in the tender procedure.

When auditors analysed the costs of tunnel structures they found that the prices of tunnels are considerably higher on the D 8 motorway than the prices of comparable tunnels in Germany.

Benefits
The cooperation achieved the objectives of both audit institutions. The two supreme audit institutions developed a database of the prices of bridges and tunnels that can be relied on in future audits. 

SOURCE: https://www.nku.cz/assets/publications-documents/other-publications/paralelni-kontroly-dalnice-praha-drazdany.pdf