Evaluation of the law on grants for the Environment abroad

Report ID: 1

Wahrnehmungsbericht des Rechnungshofes

Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt für Wirtschaft und Technik Gesellschaft mbH

Kurzfassung

Die Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt für Wirtschaft und Technik Gesellschaft mbH (Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt) wurde 1994 als Trägergesellschaft der Fachhochschullehrgänge in Wiener Neustadt unter der Firmenbezeichnung Wiener Neustädter Bildungs– und Forschungsgesellschaft mbH gegründet. Seit der Aufnahme des Studienbetriebes mit 169 Studierenden in zwei Studiengängen entwickelte sich die Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt zur größten österreichischen Fachhochschule mit über 1 600 Studierenden. Seit Herbst 2002 werden insgesamt sieben Studiengänge in Wiener Neustadt und in zwei Filialen (Wieselburg, Tulln) angeboten.

Das von der Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt verfolgte Filialkonzept erschien dem RH grundsätzlich berechtigt. Einer Aufstockung der Studienplätze in stark nachgefragten Studiengängen sollte gegenüber der Entwicklung weiterer Studiengänge mit starker Spezialisierung der Vorrang gegeben werden.

Die Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt verfügte über gute, auf die gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen und die Vorgaben der Gesellschafter abgestimmte Planungsdokumente. Die selbst gesteckten und in den Studiengangsanträgen an den Fachhochschulrat formulierten Ziele konnten erreicht werden.

Sowohl die für die bereits erfolgte Verlängerung von zwei Studiengängen erforderliche Evaluierung als auch die von der Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt selbst regelmäßig vorgenommenen Befragungen von Studenten, Absolventen und Partnerfirmen erbrachten sehr gute Ergebnisse.

Die Finanzierung der Gesellschaft erfolgte zu mehr als 80 % aus der pauschalierten Studienplatzabgeltung des Bundes. Für technische Studiengänge waren die Normkosten zu niedrig angesetzt.

Nature conservation of the Lake Fert

Report ID: 74

The region Lake Neusiedl/Fertő is a cross border landscape, unique in the world. The area around Lake Neusiedl/Fertő and that of the Hungarian Hanság, with the still existing areas of the formerly huge swamp and marsh-land, is a rare island of nature at the meeting-point of the two countries. The lake is the third largest standing water of Central Europe, its age is estimated at some 20 thousand years. Its length is 35 kilometres, width 7-15 kilometres, its surface area is 315 km², three quarters of it are in Austria, the Hungarian area is approximately 75 km². Its catchment area is 1,230 km², which is four times bigger than the lake itself. The natural water management of Lake Neusiedl/Fertő is mostly depending on precipitation and evaporation, influx and discharge are neglectable Water supply is provided through two streams, the lake does not have a natural outflow; its water can be let out only in an artificial way, through Hanság Channel, by opening the lock gate. The lake is characterised by shallow water, the great extent of the fluctuation of the water level, and the mild salt contents. The Southern (Hungarian) side of the lake is 80% taken up by reeds, in places its width reaches 5-6 kilometres; this zone of reeds provides the characteristic shape of the appearance of the lake, and it furthermore has a decisive affect on the water balance and the water quality of the lake.

The region around Lake Neusiedl/Fertő has a unique significance from the aspect of fauna and flora, the landscape, ethnography and the history of culture. From the ornithological point of view the area of Lake Neusiedl/Fertő is one of the most remarkable sites in Europe. More than 300 species of birds (150 of them breeding in the region), including many rare and endangered species, were observed.
In Austria the region consists of the Lake Neusiedl/Fertő and its reed belt and Western foreground terrain and the so–called Seewinkel. Salty ponds (“Lacken”) without any water contributor or drain with a depth of approximately 0.5 metres are characteristic for the Seewinkel.

On Austrian territory there are a landscape protection area, five nature protection areas, a protected habitat and the National Park Neusiedler See–Seewinkel. International appreciation was attained with the declaration as a Biosphere Reserve of the UNESCO, as protected area of the RAMSAR–convention, as an European Biogenetic Reserve and as a national park of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) category II. Furthermore, the region was declared as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO and nominated as a protected area of the EU–Birdprotection and Habitat directives.

The joint opening of Lake Fertő National Park, which was established in Hungary in 1991 and was alled so in that time, and of the Austrian National Park, established in 1992 with an area of 9500 hectare took place in April 1994. Thus, the total area of the national parks forming a single ecological unit exceeds 33 thousand hectares. Its Hungarian part is 23.6 thousand hectares, which also contains the areas lying farther away from Lake Neusiedl/Fertő.
The so-called Fertõ land with a territory of approx. 12.5 thousand hectare can be considered an adjoining
area.

The geographical location of Lake Neusiedl/Fertő, as well as the international obligations, poses common
tasks for the two countries. In course of their activities, the Hungarian and Austrian national parks and water management agencies work together in organised forms. The joint activity was the reason for the co-ordinated audit by the supreme audit institutions of the two countries.

The audits were regularity audits as well as performance audits, focusing on the efficiency and effectiveness
of resources spent, and ecological issues of already implemented and planned programmes and measures. Intention of the audit was to reveal conflicts in the use of the region, to elaborate possibilities to solve them and to evaluate the bilateral co-operation.

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.

Informe Binacional sobre la evaluación de la gestión de las autoridades ambientales de Costa Rica y Panamá en el manejo integral del Parque Internacional la Amistad.

Report ID: 350

El  Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) está ubicado en la Cordillera de Talamanca, una de las cadenas montañosas más alta de Centroamérica, que se extiende desde las proximidades de Cartago en Costa Rica, hasta el Monte Picacho en la Provincia de Chiriqui en Panamá. El parque es parte del puente biológico y filtro entre América del Sur y América del Norte. El PILA revista especial importancia debido a la gran variedad de su flora y fauna, así como por su potencial hidroeléctrico. Además, en sus alrededores habitan grupos étnicos importantes que fundamentan su cultura y su subsistencia en los recursos naturales y de belleza paisajística.

Debido a ello, las Contralorías Generales de la República de Costa Rica y de la República de Panamá, decidieron realizar actividades de fiscalización que contribuyan al fortalecimiento de la protección de la biodiversidad de dicha área protegida y promover el uso sostenible de sus recursos naturales.

Para dicho fin ambas EFS suscribieron un Convenio de Cooperación Técnica y Científica, en el marco de los Convenios de Cooperación establecidos con la Organización Centroamericana y del Caribe de Entidades de Fiscalización Superior (OCCEFS), de la cual ambas contralorías son miembros, así como con la Cooperación Alemana GIZ (antes GTZ), quienes apoyaron el proyecto técnica y financieramente.

El objetivo general fue evaluar la labor realizada por las autoridades ambientales de Costa Rica y Panamá en relación con el manejo integral del PILA, a efecto de verificar el cabal cumplimiento de los fines para los cuales fue creado.

Los objetivos específicos fueron:

• Evaluar la normativa internacional y la propia de cada país que regula el parque a efecto de determinar los actores y sus competencias, así como la suficiencia y el cumplimiento de dicha normativa;
• Evaluar el logro de los fines para los cuales se creó el Parque, mediante el análisis de sus objetivos y proponer las mejoras pertinentes;
• Evaluar los principales procesos administrativos relacionados con la planificación, organización, ejecución y control de las actividades desarrolladas en el PILA para su mejor gestión.

Además, se buscó fortalecer los mecanismos de integración y cooperación mutua entre las EFS participantes, así como el intercambio de información y experiencias en el marco de la OCCEFS. Se desarrolló una metodología que comprendió tres componentes: la evaluación de los resultados del parque, la evaluación de la gestión institucional y el análisis de la efectividad.

Fuentes: https://cgrfiles.cgr.go.cr/publico/jaguar/sad_docs/2003/Informe_pila.pdf