Both the ECA and NIK have the right to audit EU funds’ management and use by the Polish administration and beneficiaries. The ECA audits cover the EU budget execution and finance management by the European Commission. However, considering that 80 percent of the EU spending is done by the EU member states, the ECA audits are carried out mainly on their territories. That is why, the ECA and NIK should cooperate. ”The cooperation between the Polish Supreme Audit Institution and the European Court of Auditors has developed since the 90s. The ECA and NIK together initiated collaboration of the SAIs from the EU and the then EU candidate countries” - said NIK President Krzysztof Kwiatkowski while opening the meeting.
The ECA President Vitor Caldeira also emphasised importance of international cooperation, critical to pursue the mission of the European Court of Auditors. ”We act as an independent guard of EU citizens’ financial interests. Our task is also to help European bodies and EU member states to streamline the EU finance management. Poland is one of the largest beneficiaries of the EU funds and so we are very happy to know Polish experience on that matter” - underlined President Caldeira.
Vitor Caldeira
NIK President Krzysztof Kwiatkowski mentioned great responsibility of NIK which audits regularity of the EU funds’ use on a current basis. ”After all, it’s not only about a capital injection. The point is to use the money in a way supporting economic transformation, creation of new workplaces, companies’ development, innovation” - explained NIK President.
The issue of sound management of EU funds is still present in NIK’s work. One of the latest achievements in the NIK-ECA collaboration is the audit on animal disease eradication where the Polish auditors were involved not as observers but as active members of the audit team. At the same time, this is the first step to conduct cooperative performance audits - with the participation of the ECA and SAIs of the EU member states - and to transfer the results of that audit to parliaments of individual member states and the European Parliament. This is a good way to reduce the gap identified by the ECA: insufficient data on results achieved thanks to the EU policy and the EU spending programmes.
One of the latest ECA reports called ”Agriculture and cohesion: overview of EU spending 2007-2013” gives good testimony of the Polish accountability. It shows that although Poland has the biggest share in the EU budget, the frequency of faulty transactions in Poland was lower than the EU average. In the ECA report on airports it was noted that, among the member states audited, Poland was the only one to have prepared a long-term strategic vision for the development of airports. In another report, regarding the EU support of SMEs in the area of e‑commerce, the ECA praised the Polish practice of examining business plans at the stage of project selection and linking public support to the performance of projects.
The European Court of Auditors underlines the need of more intense collaboration between parliaments, management institutions and audit bodies across the EU - a more joined-up approach makes it easier to deliver greater accountability. ”Poland has an important role to play in that matter. This is why we have discussed with Poland’s representatives at the highest level the need for closer cooperation and sharing of the results of work between our institutions” - said President Caldeira during the meeting at NIK.
During the three days’ visit the ECA representatives will meet with the President of Poland, the Prime Minister, other government representatives and also Polish Members of the European Parliament, Members of the Polish Parliament and local government representatives.
President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski will decorate the President of the European Court of Auditors Vitor Caldeira with the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
