Fisheries management and monitoring of environmental impact on fish resources in the Baltic sea

Report ID: 159

1. In 2008 the Supreme Audit Institutions of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden conducted an audit of environmental monitoring and fisheries management and control in the Baltic Sea. The Supreme Audit Institutions in Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Russia, and Sweden did not participate in the audit of the environmental monitoring in the Baltic Sea. The Supreme Audit Institutions of Latvia, Poland and Germany did not participate in the audit of fisheries management and control in the Baltic Sea. The audit was performed as a performance and compliance audit and covered the period 2005-2007.

2. The audit was divided into two parts: The first part was about environmental monitoring in the Baltic Sea and the second part was about fisheries management and control in the Baltic Sea.

3. The overall objective of the first part was to assess whether the signatory states of the Helsinki Convention are complying with the standards of the Cooperative Monitoring in the Baltic Marine Environment (COMBINE) and how the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) will affect national monitoring.

4. The overall objective of the second part was to conduct a review of fisheries management and control in the Baltic Sea.

5. The first and the second part of the audit share the following overall objective: How have the monitoring and fisheries control authorities contributed to preserve the marine environment and protect the fish stock in the Baltic Sea.

6. The relevant national legislation in the EU Member States is supposed to be within the frame set by the EU. However, the monitoring and fisheries management and control strategies may differ significantly among the individual countries, and comparative analyses may provide an overview of what is considered good practice. Furthermore, Russian fisheries legislation is, naturally, not adjusted to the EU-regulations. The Russian Federation’s national fishery legislation takes into consideration the requirements and provisions of nine international conventions and agreements related to fishery issues in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, Russia still adheres to the recommendations of the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission (IBSFC) in spite of the fact that it was dissolved in 2004.

7. The audit was planned and conducted as a parallel audit. A parallel audit means that the participating audit institutions audit the same audit objectives in their respective countries and identify relevant audit criteria and audit methods together. However, it is up to the individual supreme audit institution to decide how to conduct the audit and which audit criteria and audit methods to apply in the audit. The Joint Final Report is prepared on the basis of the data provided by the participating supreme audit institutions.

Global climate change audit Coordinated International Implications for Governments and their Auditors (UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol)

Report ID: 161

Worldwide, scientific communities consider climate change to be an important social, economic, and environmental issue that needs to be addressed through reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the resulting climatic changes, both current and potential. Countries have made important commitments in this regard, through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, while negotiations on the issue continue internationally. In June 2007, 14 supreme audit institutions (SAIs) embarked on a project to cooperate in the design and undertaking of national audits of our respective governments’ climate change programs and performance. The project involved a diverse group of offices—from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States that have varying degrees of experience in auditing governments’ management of climate change.

The governments of all these countries have indicated that climate change is an important issue and have made commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to addressing adaptation to climate change.

As a result of the social, economic, and environmental implications of government policies and the magnitude of public expenditures related to climate change, the actions governments take in the coming years are likely to have significant and historic implications for generations to come. As advocates of good management, effective governance, and accountability, SAIs are compelled to treat climate change policies, programs, and projects as highly material (pertinent and necessary) audit topics.

We are pleased to present the results of our audit work in this report. We hope the results of the coordinated audit will provide all SAIs—not just the 14 represented in this report—with a summary of common issues to consider as they undertake work to scrutinize their governments’ achievement of climate change commitments and delivery of related policies and programs.

The report highlights areas that SAIs may wish to examine to improve the implementation of their governments’ climate change policies and programs. The results also provide legislatures with a means to assess the progress that governments have made and challenges they face in delivering their programs and targets.

Audit of EU Regional Funds projects focused on the environment and environmentally friendly energy

Report ID: 162

1. This report concerns a coordinated audit performed by National Audit Office of Denmark (Rigsrevisionen) and the Gdansk Regional Branch of the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) on the EU Regional Funds projects focused on the environment and environmentally friendly energy for the programme period 2007-2013.

2. The report contains information about programmes co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) including their administration, control follow-up, and how they are organised in Denmark and the Pomorskie Voivodship (region). The report is based on information gathered from national audits, the internet and other open sources.

3. In February 2010, Rigsrevisionen and the NIK engaged in a coordinated audit of environmental projects accepted to receive grants from the ERDF. The objective of the cooperation was for both Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) to gain comparable knowledge about the regional fund and find out whether administration and management of regional fund projects focused on the environment and environmentally friendly energy were adequate in the two countries. This was done on the basis of samples from environmental projects accepted to receive grants from the ERDF in the period 2007-2009.

4. Furthermore, the purpose of conducting the audit as a coordinated audit was to identify examples of ‘good practice’ on the basis of the audit findings to the benefit of both SAIs and the administrations in the two countries.

5. Rigsrevisionen and the NIK have each performed the audit relating to Denmark and the Pomorskie Voivodship, respectively. These audits have been reported separately to the administrations in the two countries.

6. On the basis of these reports, this joint report with examples of “good practice” has been drawn up. The results of the Danish audit, the conclusions of the joint audit and the examples of ‘good practice’ will form part of Rigsrevisionen’s report to the Danish parliament on the audit of EU funds for 2009 while the findings of the Polish audit were included in the information on the audit results published by the NIK.

Bericht über die Abgestimmte Prüfung von Steuersubventionen

Report ID: 169

Der VI. EUROSAI-Kongress, der vom 30. Mai bis 2. Juni 2005 in Bonn stattfand, befasste sich mit der Prüfung der öffentlichen Einnahmen durch die Obersten Rechnungskontrollbehörden (ORKB). Die Analyse der von den EUROSAI-Mitgliedern im Vorfeld des Kongresses eingereichten Länderpapiere zeigte u.a., dass das Wissen über die Wirksamkeit von Steuersubventionen noch unzureichend ist, wies auf den Umfang und die Komplexität der Steuergesetzgebung hin, die zu Steuerausfällen und Steuerausnahmen führen können, und kam zu dem Schluss, dass die ORKB verlässlichere Erkenntnisse über den Umfang und die Zielerreichung solcher Steuersubventionen erarbeiten sollten.

Der Kongress sprach sich daher für die Durchführung einer koordinierten Prüfung von Steuersubventionen aus, die allen EUROSAI-Mitgliedern offen steht. Zu diesem Zweck wurde eine Arbeitsgruppe eingerichtet, die die Planung der Prüfung koordiniert und deren Inhalte und Rubriken festlegt.

Die Obersten Rechnungskontrollbehörden Deutschlands, Zyperns, Dänemarks, Frankreichs, Finnlands, Ungarns, Islands, Italiens, Lettlands, Litauens, Polens, Rumäniens, der Russischen Föderation, Schwedens, der Schweiz, der Slowakischen Republik, des Vereinigten Königreichs und der Niederlande (Beobachter) nahmen an der Prüfung teil.

Die Ziele des koordinierten Audits waren:

- Verbesserung des Wissensaustauschs,

- Verbesserung der Kommunikation zwischen den EUROSAI-Mitgliedern in Bereichen von besonderem Interesse,

- Gewinnung von Informationen über bewährte Praktiken,

- Stärkung der informellen Netzwerke,

Um vergleichbare Ergebnisse zu erzielen, wurde eine Checkliste erstellt, die alle Phasen einer Steuervergünstigung von der Gesetzgebung über die Umsetzung bis hin zur Berichterstattung behandelt. Gleichzeitig bildete diese Checkliste den unverbindlichen Rahmen für eine Prüfung der Transparenz und Berichterstattung. Darüber hinaus wurden drei Arbeitsuntergruppen eingerichtet, die sich mit spezifischen Steuersubventionen befassen: Körperschaftssteuer, Mehrwertsteuer und Transparenz- und Subventionsbericht.

Nach Abschluss der Prüfungsarbeiten kam die Arbeitsgruppe zu dem Schluss, dass in Bezug auf Steuersubventionen in allen Teilnehmerstaaten Verbesserungen in den Bereichen Gesetzgebung, Bewertung und Berichterstattung erforderlich sind, um die allgemeine Transparenz zu schaffen, die sie sowohl für den Gesetzgeber als auch für die Öffentlichkeit für notwendig hält.

QUELLE: https://www.eurosai.org/es/working-groups/historic-working-groups-committees/coordinated-audit-on-tax-subsidies-working-group/

Special Report Management of a Cross-Border Broadband Initiative: the Bytel Project

Report ID: 280

This report is the result of a co-ordinated examination between the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Northern Ireland Audit Office to the Bytel project. The project was aimed to provide high-speed broadband connectivity linking Belfast, Craigavon, Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin It was supported by the European Union (EU) Interreg III programme, which ran from 2000 to 2006.

Due to the nature of the issues to be examined and that Bytel was located in Northern Ireland, the detailed work in relation to the grant payments was carried out by the NIAO. The NIAO's report is also attached as an appendix of the report. The report examines the role of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the management of the project.

Source: https://www.audit.gov.ie/en/Find-Report/Publications/Special%20Reports/Special-Report-90-Management-of-Cross-Border-Initiative-the-Bytel-Project.html