The SAO published a report on EU funds’ management in the Czech Republic
PRESS RELEASE on EU REPORT (Part I) – June 16, 2017
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) has published the first part of the 10th issue of the annual report on EU funds’ management in the Czech Republic, which is entitled “EU Report” and in which the SAO as an independent national audit institution comments on EU funds’ management during the previous 12-month period.
The first part of this year’s issue of EU Report presents the SAO’s main findings related to the implementation of EU funds in the Czech Republic within the current programming period 2014–2020. The SAO also informs about the CR’s progress in the implementation of corrective measurements, which the EU Council recommended for the year of 2016, and about the CR’s successful implementation of its 2016 National Reform Programme in each policy area.
The SAO also reports on national budgetary revenues and tax rules in the context of EU budgetary revenues and tax legislation. The main focus is put on value added taxes, excise taxes, and income taxes. The Report also informs about current developments of the tax legislation. The SAO compares its audit findings in the field of national budgetary revenues with audit findings of the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The attention is also paid to the issue of the Anti-Fraud Strategy applied to the revenue side of the EU budget.
In the publication, the whole topic of EU funds’ management in the CR is divided into chapters according to individual expenditure areas. In 2016, the SAO performed a total of seven audits in the area of economic, social and territorial cohesion policy, which represents the largest amount of expenditures. The SAO found errors in the systems of management and supervision as well as on the level of individual projects.
Moreover, the Report presents the SAO’s analysis of the slow implementation of allocated funds during the current programming period. By the end of March 2017, the required sum in the interim payment applications sent to the EU Commission had amounted to CZK 16,600 million, which only makes 2.7 % of the allocation without so called “performance reserves”. Thus, the Czech Republic placed among the EU member states with the lowest level of implementation.1 In the publication, the SAO also describes its audit findings in the fields of management and implementation of EU funds that are related to the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy of EU. The SAO’s findings are compared to the ECA’s audit findings.
From April 2016 to the editorial deadline of the presented issue of EU Report (Part I) in the end of March 2017, the SAO finished 11 auditing operation aimed at financial resources linked to the EU budget.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office
1] According to the latest information available by the end of May 2017, the situation improved as the total amounts in applications sent to the EU Commission increased to CZK 26,800 million, which represent 4.4 % of the allocated sum.