Parallel Audit of costs of controls of Structural Funds

Report ID: 84

In 2000, the Contact Committee of the heads of the SAIs of the EU Member States and the ECA (Contact Committee) set up a Working Group to carry out an exploratory survey on EU Structural Funds. In 2008, the Contact Committee of the heads of  SAIs of the EU and the EC mandated the Working Group on Structural Funds to follow up on previous audits of the EU Structural Funds and to carry out an audit on “costs of controls (this could include utilisation of Technical Assistance for the controls of Structural Funds)”.

The aim of the audit was to identify the level of costs incurred by internal control activities in the Member States and to examine whether the costs of controls are appropriate (e. g. relation to expenditures; cost-benefit; output, redundancy).

The Working Group developed and agreed on a common Audit Plan (see Annex) which provided a framework for carrying out the review. Each SAI examined their respective national administration concerning the costs of the internal national controls for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 prescribed by EU law for the Structural Funds for the 2007-2013 programming period. The costs of controls have been measured using two methods: cost centre accounting and cost unit accounting.

General observation and main conclusions

• The system of implementation of Structural Funds is organized differently in individual Member State. The different ways of implementation can influence the costs of controls.
• The cost unit accounting generally indicates lower costs of controls than the cost centre accounting.

- In relation to three sevenths of the budget5 of the audited operational programmes, the highest costs of controls expressed as a percentage amounted to 4.02 per cent and the lowest to 0.36 per cent. This percentage may be affected by the level of implementation in each Member State. Corrected for wage differences between the Member States the highest costs of controls expressed as a percentage was 2.79 per cent and the lowest 0.41 per cent.
- The average percentage of total costs of controls in relation to three sevenths of the budget of all audited operational programmes amounts to 0.97 per cent.
- In each Member State the costs of controls started out relatively low in 2007, and then increased year after year. A further increase in control activities and thus of their costs can reasonably be expected in the following years.
-The vast majority of all costs of controls made so far in the Member States can be attributed to the managing authorities. The costs of controls for the certifying authority and audit authority are comparatively low because the involvement of these authorities in control activities was limited in the years 2007-2009.

The lack of availability of data in the Member States does not allow for accurate calculating the costs of controls.

- A relatively high amount of controls was outsourced. This entails risks of loss of knowledge for the governmental bodies and higher costs.

- Whereas only some control activities result in monetary outputs, all of them can bring non-monetary benefits

- Some auditees argued that both the purpose of individual controls and the outputs and benefits of individual control activities are predetermined by EU law.

Source: https://www.eca.europa.eu/sites/cc/Lists/CCDocuments/8729516/8729516_EN.PDF

Parallel Audit on railway construction Zalalovo Bajansenye - Hodo Murska Sobota

Report ID: 189

The Hungarian-Slovenian railway link - between the Hungarian Zalalövő and the Slovenian Muraszombat (Murska Sobota) - was built between 1999 and 2001 as part of the V. European transit corridor.

Since the two countries adopted an agreement on co-operation when planning and realising the investment, in 2001 the Supreme Audit institutions of Slovenia and Hungary decided to carry out a parallel audit of the investment.

Both supreme audit institutions reviewed apart from regularity of planning the investment public procurement process and financing the investment, also the ecological aspect of railway construction and other impacts of the investment.

The joint report presents 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.

Source: https://docplayer.hu/10411470-Audit-report-on-railway-construction-zalalovo-bajansenye-hodos-murska-sobota.html

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

Auditoría Coordinada sobre Gobernanza de Tecnologías de la Información - Resumen Ejecutivo

Report ID: 225

La gobernanza de TI es la parte de la gobernanza corporativa que busca asegurar que el uso de la TI agregue valor al negocio con riesgos aceptables. Con ese objetivo, la gobernanza de TI busca evitar o mitigar deficiencias en la gestión de una institución, tales como procesos de planificación inadecuados, presencia de proyectos de TI sin resultados y contrataciones de TI que no logran sus objetivos, reflejando en pérdida de calidad y eficiencia.

La Auditoría Coordinada sobre Gobernanza de TI se realizó en el marco de las actividades previstas en la meta estratégica 3 (Gestión del Conocimiento) del Plan Estratégico 2011-2015 de la OLACEFS. Dicha auditoría contó con la participación de las EFS de Bolivia, Brasil (Coordinadora), Chile, Costa Rica, Perú, Ecuador, el Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panamá y Paraguay; y el financiamiento del BID.     

El objetivo de la auditoría fue evaluar la situación de la gobernanza de la tecnología de la información (TI) en los países miembros de la OLACEFS, a partir de las auditorías realizadas en instituciones representativas de diversos segmentos de la Administración Pública de cada país participante.

La auditoría buscó obtener informaciones que permitan la elaboración de estrategias para elevar el nivel de madurez de gobernanza de TI y la diseminación de los conocimientos y técnicas utilizadas en los trabajos de campo realizados.

Como criterio de auditoría, además de la legislación aplicable de cada país, se adoptaron los controles previstos en la norma ISO/IEC 27002:2013, código de buenas prácticas para gestión de la seguridad de la información; en la norma ISO/IEC 27005:2008, que trata de gestión de riesgos de seguridad de la información; en la norma ISO/IEC 38500:2008 y en el Cobit 5 de la Isaca, que proveen modelos de buenas prácticas para gobernanza de la tecnología de la información.

Fuente: https://portal.tcu.gov.br/biblioteca-digital/resumen-ejecutivo-de-la-auditoria-coordinada-sobre-gobernanza-de-ti.htmhttps://portal.tcu.gov.br/biblioteca-digital/resumen-ejecutivo-de-la-auditoria-coordinada-sobre-gobernanza-de-ti.htm

Activities of the Responsible Institutions of Latvia and the Russian Federation in the Fulfilment of the Obligations Arising from the Agreement of their Governments on the status of Latvian and Russian Gravesites on their territories

Report ID: 104

In April  2011  the State Audit Office and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation decided to carry out a compliance parallel audit regarding the activities of the responsible institutions of the Republic of Latvia and the Russian Federation the fulfilment of the obligations arising from the Agreement of the government of the Republic of Latvia and the government of the Russian Federation on the status of Latvian gravesites on the territory of the Russian Federation and the status of Russian gravesites on the territory of the Republic of Latvia.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the responsible authorities of  Latvia and the Russian Federation have ensured the fulfilment of the obligations arising from the Agreement of 18 December 2007 between their goverments on the status of Latvian gravesites on the territory of the Russian Federation and the status of Russian gravesites on the territory of Latvia.

Source: https://bit.ly/2TC9B28