Report on the parallel audit on the Performance of the Structural Funds programmes of the EU in the areas of employment and or environment

Report ID: 70

In 2006 the Contact Committee gave a mandate to the Working Group on Structural Funds to continue its reviews of Structural Funds issues and specifically to carry out a focused review on “Performance (output/effectiveness) of the Structural Funds programmes in the areas of employment and/or environment″. The Working Group agreed an Audit Plan which provided a framework for carrying out the review. Each SAI examined their respective national administration’s work on the planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects, measures, sub programmes or programmes (as appropriate) co-financed by the Structural Funds.

The SAIs of Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republik, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom participated in the audit. The SAIs of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Lithuania and the ECA were observers. The aim was to identify potential improvements in the Structural Funds’ programmes, especially in their planning and in their administrative management.

The review involved each SAI in an examination of the Structural Funds (objectives 1 and 2) in the areas of employment and/or environment, and concluding on the following:

• if and how national authorities monitored the sustainable success of the funded measures;

• to what extent aid measures (sub programmes, major projects and other projects) provided an effective and sustainable contribution to the strategic goals of the Structural Funds.

The subject of the audit was an important topic of relevance to both the 2000-2006 and 2007- 2013 Structural Funds’ programmes. The audit was concerned with the two Key Areas of the strategic planning and the evaluation of aid measures. Based on the examination of measures from the period 2000-2006 each of the SAIs aimed to conclude on the extent to which Member States have contributed to the realisation of the respective OP’s strategic goals. As the goals of the Structural Funds have continued from the 2000-2006 period to the programme period 2007-2013, the findings from the audit of measures from the period 2000- 2006 have been used to inform the recommendations for the improvement of the new period 2007-2013.

The report sets out good practice identified by individual SAIs, relevant for both programme periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. As a general matter of good practice, many of the lessons learned from the 2000-2006 programme period have been incorporated into Member States’ administrative arrangements for 2007-2013.

Source:https://www.eca.europa.eu/sites/cc/Lists/CCDocuments/1959901/1959901_EN.PDF

Auditoría Coordinada sobre Pasivos Ambientales de la OLACEFS

Report ID: 222

La gestión de los residuos sólidos y peligrosos, por ejemplo los mineros, como resultado de las actividades económicas, es de gran relevancia, dados los efectos negativos que su falta de gestión o manejo inadecuado pueden ocasionar en la población, los recursos naturales y los ecosistemas; lo que aumenta el riesgo de producir pasivos ambientales,

En el marco de las actividades de la Comisión Técnica de Medio Ambiente (COMTEMA) de la Organización Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Entidades Fiscalizadoras Superiores (OLACEFS) se  realizó una Auditoría Coordinada sobre Pasivos Ambientales para abordar la referida temática.

Esta auditoría contó con la participación de las Entidades de Fiscalización Superior (EFS) de Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, México, Paraguay, Perú y República Dominicana; así como de las Entidades de Fiscalización (EF) de las Provincias argentinas de Buenos Aires y Santa Fe; estando la coordinación de la misma  a cargo de las EFS de México y Perú. Además, la auditoría contó con el apoyo de la Cooperación Alemana a través de GIZ

Durante esta auditoría se evaluó la gestión estatal para la prevención y el manejo integral de los pasivos ambientales. La auditoría evaluó las acciones realizadas por las entidades gubernamentales responsables de la gestión (prevención/control y/o restauración) de los pasivos ambientales y su efecto en la en la mitigación de los daños que ocasionan en el ambiente.

Como resultado de esta evaluación, fue posible analizar los resultados de las acciones realizadas por 88 instituciones públicas responsables de los pasivos ambientales en 9 países de América Latina y el Caribe y en 2 Provincias argentinas.

Los hallazgos de la Auditoría Coordinada muestran que la política de atención de pasivos ambientales, diseñada e implementada por las instituciones evaluadas, no está consolidada, lo que ha provocado una contribución limitada a la preservación del ambiente, de las acciones de prevención y control de la generación de pasivos ambientales y la remediación de los existentes.

Fuente: https://olacefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/03-Resumen-Ejecutivo-ACPA-11oct16.pdf

Purchase of Province-Guaranteed Bonds by the Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund

Report ID: 352

From March to October 2018, the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) and the Court of Audit of Carinthia carried out an audit of the agreement on the purchase of province-guaranteed bonds by the Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund (Kärntner Ausgleichszahlungs-Fonds) pursuant to Section 2a of the Financial Market Stability Act (Finanzmarktstabilitätsgesetz). In this context, the provincial parliament of Carinthia addressed an audit request to both the ACA and the Court of Audit of Carinthia.

The audit institutions performed the audit jointly in order to prevent a duplication of efforts. The audit aimed at presenting the initial situation and at assessing the development and structure as well as the approval, financing and implementation of the second offer. The auditors furthermore looked into the costs and the remaining economic risks. The audited period essentially spanned the years from 2015 through 2017. 

Central recommendations

1. The Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund should step up its efforts in order to attain an adequate premium reduction for the liability insurance of the executive board.
2. In the interest of encouraging competition and compliance with the principles of economy and efficiency, the Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund should award service contracts only via a public procurement process or after at least three reference offers have been solicited.
3. As regards the negotiations with the Heta Asset Resolution AG (HETA), the Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund should, against the backdrop of the interim distributions that have in the meanwhile taken place, carry out a legal assessment of a rapid and appropriate write-down and the possibility of withdrawing the HETA securities in order to achieve a subsequent reduction in custodian fees.
4. The province of Carinthia and the Carinthian Compensation Payment Fund should carry out an analysis of possible further steps of the hold-outs or other creditors, taking into consideration the cost-benefit ratio, or commission suitable lawyers or experts to ensure best possible pre-paredness for such judicial or extrajudicial steps.

Source: https://www.rechnungshof.gv.at/rh/home/news/news/news_1/Erwerb_von_landesbehafteten_Schuldtiteln_durch_den_Kaerntne.html

Making it easier to start a business - A report on public sector digitalisation by the SAIs of the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

Report ID: 264

The co-operation on carrying out a parallel audit on public sector digitalisation was decided by the Auditor Generals of the SAIs of the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden at the Nordic Supreme Audit Institutions’ meeting in August 2017.

Between 2018 - 2019, the  participating SAIs conducted parallel audits on government agencies’ initiatives for simplifying the process of starting a business using digital tools. The co-operating SAIs wished to highlight an important area for public sector digitalisation. Starting a business was chosen as an audit topic, with focus on the process of starting a restaurant. Simplifying the process of starting a new business using digital tools is an objective in all participating countries, as efficient processes are beneficial for both entrepreneurs and the public sector.

The report presents the findings from the five national audits carried out during 2018–2019, are presented and discussed. The report contains general observations and conclusions but no joint recommendations. The SAIs followed an agreed audit approach, including the same audit questions, audit criteria, methodology and approach, while allowing for a certain flexibility to take national considerations into account in the separate national audits.

Source: https://www.riksrevisjonen.no/globalassets/reports/en-2019-2020/joint-report_start-business.pdf

Synthesis Report on the coordinated audit on Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS)

Report ID: 265

About Jaspers In 2005, the European Commission decided to engage in a new initiative together with the European Investment Bank (EIB), known as ‘Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions’ (JASPERS), to provide the Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or later with independent technical advice.

The aim of the JASPERS initiative was to help the Member States, free of charge, to prepare high-quality proposals for large investment projects for funding through the EU’s Cohesion and European Regional Development Funds.

In march 2016, the SAIs of Croatia, the Supreme Audit Office of Poland as well as the European Court of Auditors (ECA)  agreed to carry out a coordinated audit. It was a performance audit of the effectiveness of the JASPERS initiative in the field of shared management in Structural/Cohesion funds.

The audits covered the period from when JASPERS began operations in 2006 until the end of 2016. Within the respective audit mandates of the three SAIs, the main audit topics and audit criteria were established in a coordinated way between the three audit teams. 

Source: http://www.revizija.hr/datastore/filestore/82/SYNTHESIS_REPORT_ON_THE_COORDINATED_AUDIT_ON_JOINT_ASSISTANCE_TO_SUPPORT_PROJECTS_IN_EUROPEAN_REGIONS_JASPERS.pdf