Special Report No 16/2013: Taking stock of ‘single audit’ and the Commission’s reliance on the work of national audit authorities in Cohesion

Abstract:

The Court considers that the Commission has made considerable progress on developing a ‘single audit’ system based on which it can draw assurance as to the legality and regularity of ERDF/CF and ESF expenditure from the work of national audit authorities. The court estimates the cost of these audit authorities at around 860 million euro for the entire 2007-2013 programming period (0,2 % of the ERDF/CF and ESF budget).

The court found that the error rates reported by audit authorities and the member states’ information on financial corrections are not sufficiently reliable to effectively implement the ‘single audit’ provisions for all programmes. The commission may therefore underestimate the problems in the cohesion area in its reporting to the European parliament and the council.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Replies Of The Commission To The Special Report Of The European Court Of Auditors ‘Taking Stock Of ‘Single Audit’ And The Commission's Reliance On The Work Of National Audit Authorities In Cohesion’ http://www.europeansources.info/record/replies-of-the-commission-to-the-special-report-of-the-european-court-of-auditors-taking-stock-of-single-audit-and-the-commissions-reliance-on-the-work-of-national-audit-au/

ECA: Special Report No 16/2013: Taking stock of ‘single audit’ and the Commission’s reliance on the work of national audit authorities in Cohesion [PDF] http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR13_16/SR13_16_EN.pdf

ECA: Press Release, 18.12.13: "Single audit" of cohesion spending: significant progress achieved since 2007, but Commission and national audit bodies must work better, say EU auditors http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/INSR13_16/INSR13_16_EN.pdf

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