Audit of the Internal Control System of the Structural Funds
Report ID: 72
All SAIs have expressed that the organisational set-ups of the internal management and control system installed for the audited programmes were found to be in line with Community regulations and generally capable of ensuring an efficient internal control.
All the participating countries have made the necessary steps for the implementation of a proper and adequate internal control system required by the Community legislation.
Depending on the individual programming processes the National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRFs) have been developed, submitted to and approved by the European Commission. The programs and the priority axes selected for audit have the necessary consistency with the NSRFs.
The organisational structure in the participating countries has been established in line with Community regulations. The segregation of duties of the different authorities gives sufficient evidence for the separation of management, disbursement and audit functions.
National legislation was, however, not always able to implement national rules together with the programming and implementation of the individual projects. The experiences in this field differ from country to country depending on their federal or central administration structure.
The requirements of the partnership were considered in the audited programs. Based on the documentation available at the authorities (minutes, communication efforts, interviews with partners involved) no signs were identified that would question the adherence to Community rules in this field.