Report on the three-border area of Hungary, Slovenia and Austria

Report ID: 75

Environment and nature protection are decisive factors in modern society. As environmental problems do not stop at national borderlines, intensive international cooperation is needed in order to prevent and reduce pollution. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) as independent organizations have a special function in covering these topics.

With the aim to contribute to a supranational approach on environmental issues, the Heads of the SAIs of the Republic of Hungary, Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Austria decided to carry out a coordinated audits on how to treat the frequently identical problems of environment and nature protection in the region located along the joint borders of the three countries. All SAIs already had experience with successful bilateral audit cooperation; this trilateral audit denotes a further step in cooperation and exchange of know-how between the SAIs of the Republic of Hungary, Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Austria.

The environmental audits carried out by the three SAIs covered the topics water, soil and nature protection. The audited area comprised the border region of the three countries with emphasis on the region of Raab/Rába and Mur/Mura border river basin and protected areas. The audits covered the period 2000-2005 with focus on the trends and recent developments.

The main objectives were to address:

• the quality of rivers, groundwater, soil and natural habitats,

• the situation of sewage disposal,

• the effectiveness of the measures taken by the authorities to foster environment and nature protection, and of the application of funds,

• deficiencies and need for further measures.

In the audits special emphasis was given to the transboundary cooperation of the competent authorities of the three countries in the field of environment protection.
The audits were carried out in the spirit of tight cooperation of the three SAIs. Beyond the in-depth reconciliation of the audit highlights with one another, each of the three SAIs carried out the audit under its own authority and as part of its annual national audit program. Audit results were published in separate national reports and condensed to the joint report, compiled by the three SAIs.

Source:https://www.asz.hu/storage/files/files/Angol_portal/coordinated_audit_reports/0542ar.pdf?ctid=524

Report in german: intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/umweltschutz-im-dreilndereck-ungarn-sterreich-und-slowenien

Audit of the investment on Maria-Valeria bridge

Report ID: 78

For thousands of years the Danube River has been used by nations as a key route of transport. Researchers
have found that a river crossing point had been developed in the region of today’s Esztergom and Štúrovo
(Párkány) already in the Bronze Age and roads crossing the river have been leading through this area ever since then. The construction of the first permanent iron bridge was started towards the end of the 19th century and the bridge named on Grand Duchess Mária Valéria was officially inaugurated on 25 September 1895. The bridge was blown up in 1919 and restored in 1927. During the Second World War the retreating German army once again blew up the three middle sections of the Bridge.
The desire for the reconstruction of the Bridge emerged during the second half of the 20th century time
and time again, primarily based on the requests of local residents. However, several decades had to pass before the decision was made at the highest decision-making level and the commencement of any substantive negotiations concerning the restoration of the cross-border connection. The development of events accelerated in the second half of the eighties, and in the first half of the nineties the preparation for the reconstruction of the Bridge was launched. The ‘Bridge reconstruction committees’ established by the two countries and the senior officials of the ministries concerned agreed on the initiation of submitting a request for the PHARE support offered by the European Union for this purpose. The Slovak and the Hungarian minister submitted their joint request to the European Commission on 25 September 1995, the 100th year anniversary of the inauguration of the Mária Valéria Bridge, and received a positive answer
already in December of the same year.

The joint preparations were launched on the basis of the prospective support of the European Union. In 1999
the Agreement between the governments of the Republic of Hungary and the Slovak Republic was signed concerning the reconstruction of the Danube Bridge across the border between the two cities – Esztergom and Štúrovo – along with the construction of the related facilities. The financial support for the Slovak Republic for the reconstruction of the Bridge was approved in the Financing Memorandum signed between the European Commission and the Slovak Republic on 2 November 1999. The Financing Memorandum on the PHARE subsidy to be provided for the reconstruction of the Bridge was signed by the representatives of the European Union and the Republic of Hungary on 22 December 1999.
Construction was launched on 18 October 2000 and on 11 October 2001 the Bridge was officially opened amid much ceremony and festivity. It would not have been possible to reconstruct the Bridge within a foreseeable period of time without EU assistance.
By strengthening the good neighbourly relations and friendly co-operation between the two countries the reconstruction of the Bridge over the Danube also contributes to the strengthening of the stability of Europe. The joint investment project has contributed to the process of the integration of both countries into the European Union and has opened new possibilities in cross-border co-operation and in the economic and social relationships between the two countries.
In addition to the agreement on co-operation in construction, agreement was also made on the parallel
audit of the work as well. In the territory of the Republic of Hungary the audit was performed by the State Audit Office of the Republic of Hungary, in the territory of the Slovak Republic it was carried out by the
Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic, based on a mutually co-ordinated and agreed audit plan. The auditor groups of the parties held regular meetings during the audit period and shared their experiences. The audit covered the state and local level legal entities, which were involved in the reconstruction of the Bridge. The objective of the audit was to assess whether the entities concerned had completed the tasks and met the requirements laid out in the inter-governmental Agreement in the course of the reconstruction of the Mária Valéria Bridge and construction of the related facilities.
Furthermore, the audit was aimed to assess compliance in the course of the utilisation of PHARE support with the rules prescribed by the EU concerning the implementation of PHARE programmes. The Report will
be forwarded to the European Court of Auditors, other competent bodies of the European Union, the National
Council of the Slovak Republic and the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary, along with a joint cover letter
signed by the presidents of the state audit institutions of the two countries.

SOURCE: https://www.nku.gov.sk/documents/10272/1542112/2002+-+Bridge+Maria+-+Valerie.pdf

Audit of the construction of the railway line Zalalv Bajnsenye- Hodo Murska Sobota

Report ID: 80

Since the two countries adopted an agreement on co-operation when planning and realizing the investment, the supreme audit institutions decided to carry out a parallel audit of the investment. The audit on construction of Hungarian part of the railway was carried out in 2001 by the State Audit Office of Hungary (herein after referred to as SAO).

The audit on construction of Slovene part of the railway was carried out by Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia (herein after referred to as Court of Audit). Both supreme audit institutions reviewed apart from regularity of planning the in-vestment public procurement process and financing the investment, also the ecological aspect of railway construction and other impacts of the investment.

The joint report will present the activities referred to railway construction undertaken by both countries and it will show some comparable audit results (data on railway construction costs and the answer to the question: which country was more cost efficient), and present an assessment of effectiveness of the investment referred to achievement of planned objectives.

Auditing Investments of TEN-T Priority Project 6

Report ID: 83

In 2008,  the Contact Committee of the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the European Union endorsed the execution of a co-ordinated performance audit activity – of a cross-border nature, involving several Member States – related to the utilisation of European Union funds allocated for the realization of investment projects focusing on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).The estimated value of the entire TEN-T Priority Project 6 is 60.8 billion Euros and is the largest of the thirty TEN-T Priority Projects according to its value.

The Supreme Audit Institutions of Slovenia, Hungary and Italy participated in the cooperative audit.

The audit objective was to evaluate:

1. whether the respective transport policies in the countries of participating SAIs are in line with the principles of the community transport policy and whether they define a demand for the modernisation of railway transport in relation to TEN-T Priority Project 6 and corridor 5;
2. whether the development of railway lines financed by European Union funds – taking into account the principles of the respective national and community transport policy – is effectively and efficiently implemented on the line of the TEN-T priority project 6 and Trans-European transport corridor 5;
3. whether the system set up for preparation and realisation of the selected projects effectively ensures the implementation of the railway network and related infrastructure developments concerning corridor 5 in the participating countries;
4. whether the selected project has achieved/ will achieve its objectives defined in the community and national strategies.

The audit focused on two already completed and two still running railway section investments that are/were financed by European Union funds. Within the framework of the audit, each SAI audited its own railway section. The selection of the railway section, or within this railway section, the selection of a project or projects laid with the respective SAIs.

To ensure a coherent approach, all SAIs followed the approved audit plan as close as possible, particularly with regard to the following main question: did the preparation process and the realisation of the TEN-T project selected to be audited efficiently serve the time-proportional implementation of the European Union’s and national transport policy, as well as the utilisation of available resources? The audit focused on the period 2000 –2010.

Source: https://www.asz.hu/storage/files/files/Angol_portal/coordinated_audit_reports/report_on_auditing_investments_of_ten_t_priority_project_6.pdf?download=true

The compliance of the planning monitoring and effectiveness of ERDF co-financed environmental programs to EC regulations and policy planning documents

Report ID: 98

The goal of the audit was to carry out a focused review on “Performance (output/effectiveness) of the Structural Funds programmes in the areas of employment and/or environment”.

With respect to the planning of measures and the selection of projects in 2000 – 2006, the review identified examples of good practice but also several shortcomings in the arrangements in place within Member States in responding effectively to meeting the primary goals of the Structural Funds. For 2007-2013 the situation was much more encouraging as the review concluded that Member States had responded positively to the lessons learned from the previous period, and had acted upon recommendations for improvements made by the SAI.