Enforcement of the European Waste Shipment Regulation

Report ID: 132

This cooperative audit on the enforcement of the European Waste Shipment Regulation is based on eight individual national audit reports, carried out by the supreme audit institutions of Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia. The SAI of the Netherlands coordinated the compilation of the audit findings. The coordinated audit was launched in response to a decision taken by the Contact

Committee of Heads of EU SAIs and was conducted in close collaboration with the EUROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing.

About the audit

The objective of this coordinated audit is to improve the enforcement of the EWSR by providing information on the participating countries’ enforcement strategies and performances (in terms of results and the achievement of the desired effect). To achieve this objective, the national audits sought to answer the following questions:

• To what extent do the relevant authorities comply with the requirements arising from the EWSR?

• How do the authorities enforce the EWSR?

• What is known about the effectiveness of the enforcement measures?

This joint report gives insight into the differences among the countries involved, but does not provide systematic benchmarks. The eight national audits were not designed to provide specific benchmarks for the enforcement of the regulation.

Structure of this report

This report consists of five chapters, starting with this introduction, which provides background information on international waste shipments and the EWSR. The second chapter discusses the formal implementation requirements, the classification of waste and the information networks. Chapter 3 examines the enforcement network and provides information on enforcement practices in each of the eight countries. Chapter 4 looks at the way in which infringements of the EWSR are punished. A summary of the conclusions and recommendations is presented in chapter 5.

Implementation of Tasks Related to Environmental Projects and Measures in the Thaya River Basin

Report ID: 144

Cooperation between Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in conducting environmental audits has become more and more common in recent years for good reason: There are many benefits, for both the institutions and the environment. For the institutions, cooperative audits facilitate mutual sharing and learning, capacity building, networking, and identification of best practices. For the environment, many environmental problems transcend political boundaries. Thus, combining forces through cooperative environmental audits allows SAIs to take a broader view of the situation, to consider the various upstream and downstream impacts of domestic actions, and to benchmark best practices.

There are many models of and approaches to cooperative audits. They are applicable to a variety of situations, including the audit of international and regional environmental agreements, of shared physical resources (for example, watersheds), and of shared environmental problems (for example, domestic waste management). SAIs now have gained considerable experience in what works, what doesn’t work, and how best to ensure success.

The paper entitled Cooperation between Supreme Audit Institutions: Tips and Examples for Cooperative Audits responds to the ongoing demand for information and ideas on how to make cooperation work effectively. Reflecting the real-world experience of practitioners from some 29 SAIs, the paper provides practical advice and tips through each phase of the audit cycle.

While the examples in this paper are drawn from cooperative environmental audits, the tips have been generalized to make them broadly applicable to cooperative audits of any topic and perhaps also to cooperation with local or regional audit institutions. Tip 1 Communicate! is essential advice that readers will find reiterated throughout the paper.

This paper was co-led by the Supreme Chamber of Control of the Republic of Poland and The Netherlands Court of Audit. In particular, I would like to thank Rob de Bakker and Arien Blees-Booij from the Netherlands and Ewa Borkowska-Domanska and Monika Skrzypiec from Poland for all of their hard work and efforts in preparing this document. My thanks also goes to the many other organizations and individuals who contributed to this paper (see Acknowledgments).

I believe this paper will facilitate future cooperation between SAIs and enhance the effectiveness of their initiatives.

Cooperation between Supreme Audit Institutions: Tips and Examples for Cooperative Audits is one of four guidance papers developed by the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) in the Work Plan period 2005–2007. The other three papers are:

• Evolution and Trends in Environmental Auditing,

• Auditing Biodiversity: Guidance for Supreme Audit Institutions, and

• The World Summit on Sustainable Development: An Audit Guide for Supreme Audit Institutions.

Readers are encouraged to consult these papers as well as Appendix 4 of this paper for information on other WGEA products and services.  

National parks in Polish-Slovak border area Audit Report

Report ID: 145

In 2005, the Supreme Chamber of Control of the Republic of Poland (NIK) and the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (NKU),  performed a parallel audit of the functioning of national parks with regard to preservation, sustainable use and restoration of natural resources.

The audit was carried in accordance with the agreement on cooperation concluded between the NIK and the NKU on 9 February 1998 on the basis of the INTOSAI auditing standards. The total area of the audited national parks located in the borderland between Poland and Slovakia was 46,340 hectares on the Polish side, and 107,355 hectares on the Slovak side.

The objective of the audit was to assess:

• the effectiveness of the tasks performed with a view to conserve natural resources in selected national parks as well as to examine whether the resources and funds of the parks had been used in an economical and efficient manner,

• the impact of the binding legal regulations on ensuring appropriate protection of ecosystems of national parks,

• the effectiveness of the activities taken by wildlife conservation bodies.

Source: https://www.nku.gov.sk/documents/10272/1542112/2007+-+National+parks.pdf

Cross-border movement of wastes between Poland and the Russian Federation

Report ID: 151

The Poland-Russia Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 has been drafted jointly by the Polish and Russian parties. It will be co-financed by the European Union and the Russian Federation. The financial contribution of the EU will be provided by the European Neighbourhood Instrument and European Regional Development Fund under the 2014-2020 financial perspective of the European Union.

The Joint Operational Programme for the Poland-Russia CBC Programme 2014-2020 was prepared in the legal framework of the following regulations and documents:

• Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 966/2012 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities;
• Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument;
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 897/2014 of 18 August 2014 laying down specific provisions for the implementation of cross-border cooperation programmes financed under Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument;
• Programming document for EU support to ENI Cross-Border Cooperation (2014-2020);
• Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for financing external actions;

Additionally, for the Russian Federation the document was prepared on the basis of the following documents:

• The Strategy of the Social and Economic Development of the North-Western Federal District Region of the Russian Federation till 2020 approved with the Government Executive Order of the Russian Federation № 2074-р of 18 November 2011; Federal law on procurement № 44-ФЗ of 5 April 2013;
• Strategy for the social and economic development of the Russian Federation till 2020
• Programme of the Government of the Russian Federation «Social and economic development of the Kaliningrad region till 2020»
• Concept for the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation adopted by the President of the Russian Federation on 12 February 2013;
• Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• Applicable decrees of the President of the Russian Federation and the Russian Government

Implementation of the Programme will comply with the provisions of relevant financing agreement between the Russian Federation, the European Union and the Republic of Poland after the JOP is adopted.

Audit Parallel on EUROSAI Audit On Climate Change

Report ID: 158

The present audit was carried out on the basis of the Common Position on Cooperation for Coordinated Parallel EUROSAI Audit on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as the Common Position on Cooperation), signed by the representatives of 10 Supreme Audit Institutions, the members of the EUROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing, on 16 January 2009 in Warsaw.

The following Institutions participated in the audit: the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Audit Office of the Republic of Cyprus, Rigsrevisionen - Denmark, the National Audit Office of Estonia, the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel, the State Audit Office of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Swiss Federal Audit Office and the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as the Cooperating SAIs. The Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland was the Audit Coordinator.

The aim of the audit was to assess the actions taken in the States of the Cooperating SAIs to implement the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol to this Convention,

Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and the requirements of the national legislation, in the scope of:

• The performance of observations on climate change and its effects,

• Actions taken to mitigate climate change,

• Forecasts and assessments of the actual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission and absorption levels,

• Reporting on the scope of the actions taken and planned to be taken in order to mitigate climate change and the achieved eff ects of these actions.

The present Report consists of three parts:

Part I contains general information on the audit, climate change in Europe, the related international regulations and presentations of the States of the Cooperating SAIs;

Part II contains the main audit findings in the four audited areas (observation, mitigation, monitoring and financing);

Part III contains summaries of national reports on audit findings, along with the assessments from the national audits, prepared by the Cooperating SAIs and provided in this Part as originally submitted.

Part III also includes the Communiqué on the Results of the Coordinated Audit of Air and Ozone

Layer Protection and Implementation of Related International Agreements, and summaries of the national reports on audits, performed by the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic, the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia, the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic and the Austrian Court of Audit.

The present EUROSAI Audit was performed under the INTOSAI Global Audit on Climate Change.