The Office of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs financed the Czech EU Council Presidency without material shortcomings - with one exception
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 23/27 – 18 November 2024
The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022 cost a total of CZK 2.033 billion. Of this, the Office of the Government (OoG) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spent a total of CZK 913.7 million on the Presidency. The audit of a sample of the expenditure of these two institutions did not reveal any material shortcomings. According to the Supreme Audit Office (SAO), both Offices planned and spent funds for the Presidency in 2020-2023 in accordance with the priorities set, according to the approved expenditure structure and on the basis of actual and documented needs. The OoG was the central coordinator of the Presidency and awarded the most financially significant public contracts. During their audit, the SAO found one case where the OoG did not carry out the procurement procedure.
In a sample of 23 public contracts, the SAO verified that the OoG and the MoFA complied with the legal regulations. The exception was one case: the OoG violated the Public Procurement Act when it purchased technical equipment for approximately CZK 39 million intended for an informal summit at Prague Castle without carrying out a procurement procedure. According to the SAO, this is a fact indicating a breach of budgetary discipline.
The OoG and the MoFA adjusted the Presidency budget. The SAO found that they based their adjustments on real needs arising during the Presidency, that the adjustments were justified and materially related to the Presidency.
To ensure the preparation and execution of the entire Presidency, 97 systematised temporary posts were created in both Offices. As verified by the SAO, these temporary posts were abolished after the end of the Presidency. A total of 211 temporary posts were created by the participating Ministries throughout the Presidency.
The SAO carried out an international comparison of the expenditure on the preparation and organisation of the EU Council Presidency, comparing fifteen selected Member States that held the Presidency from 2013 to 2023 - Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. This was the SAO's own investigation based on information obtained from publicly available sources. Despite the limited comparability of the available data, the auditors concluded that the expenditure on the Czech Presidency is just below the average of the EU countries assessed.
EU Member States take on the Presidency, which lasts for six months, repeatedly after 13 years. The Czech Republic has already held the EU Council Presidency twice - from 1 July to 31 December 2022 and in the first half of 2009.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office