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The European Court of Auditors’ Assessments of Results, Milestones and Targets for RRF and ESIFs
In the current programming period 2021-2027, very significant amounts of EU money are being invested to support specific policies, projects and programmes. In addition to the traditional European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) and other directly managed EU-funds, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) applies, although with different rules and principles.
This highly practical course will allow participants to manage:
- How audit results are correctly assessed. Experts of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will share their extensive experience on all aspects of each stage of the performance audit process: strategic planning, preparation, implementation, reporting and assessing impact. Many new showcases in different fields will be presented (digitalisation, climate, agriculture, environment, transport, sustainability, etc), also some without a particular financial impact. The presentations will also focus on the importance of the analysis of costs and benefits (CBA), and explain the audit methodologies and tools used, such as benchmarking and key performance indicators;
- The rules on the RRF. We will explain its legal base, its functioning and effects. The advantages of the RRF as an additional funding framework, but also the risks and the challenges of having these different funding tools available at the same time, will be presented and discussed;
- The current state of play of the RRF, the impacts of the amendments of the Recovery Plans (integrated revisions related to RePowerEU), the regularity of RRF payments, the reversal of satisfactorily fulfilled milestones and targets; and whether RRF so far has led to the administrative simplification that the Member States hoped. In this part, information will also be provided on already conducted ECA audits, currently ongoing ones and the upcoming ECA audit work on the RRF;
- Working in teams and sharing of experience: the programme includes several practical workshops where participants will develop together their knowledge and experience on a selection of proposed topics, and share their own experience on performance measuring within their own organisation;
- Thinking “out of the box”, through dedicated exercises.
Course methodology
After the presentations, participants will be able to choose the topic they prefer to work on from several real-life case studies proposed in different fields. The participants will work in small groups with direct involvement and guidance from the ECA Experts. This way, the participants will gain practical experience on how to carry out a performance audit in their institution.
Participants will increase and improve their practical knowledge on measuring results. Because of the way the programme will be presented, participants will also be able to apply this knowledge to the development of a results-based analysis system within their organisations for the 2021–2027 programming period.
Audit, managing and certifying authorities, intermediate bodies, beneficiaries of EU funds and independent auditors dealing with, or interested in EU-funded projects and programmes. Also relevant for consulting companies specialized in auditing EU co-funded programmes and projects, and representatives of ministries dealing with, and responsible for public spending (national and EU money).
Project number: 2420606
Course venue
INAP
C. de Atocha, 106 Centro
28012
Madrid (ES)
Senior Project Officer
Ms Rafaella Giussani
Tel: +31 43 32 96 372
r.giussani@eipa.eu
Fee
The fee includes documentation, refreshments, lunches, a sightseeing tour of Madrid and a dinner. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.
Discounts
EIPA member fee
EIPA offers a discount to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s supporting countries, and civil servants working for an EU institution, body or agency.
Who are the supporting countries?
Civil servants coming from the following EIPA supporting countries are entitled to get the reduced fee: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden.
For all other participants, the regular fee applies.
Early bird discount
The early bird discount is not cumulative with other discounts or promo codes, except for the EIPA member fee.
Loyalty coupon
As a token of appreciation we offer all our participants a loyalty coupon for one of our future courses. The offer can be shared with colleagues and relevant networks. The coupon will expire one year after its release. This discount is not cumulative with other discounts, except for the EIPA member fee.
Meals
Dietary preferences can be indicated on the registration form.
Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed online registration form.
Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation.
Cancellation policy
For administrative reasons you will be charged €150 for cancellations received within 15 days before the activity begins. There is no charge for qualified substitute participants.
EIPA reserves the right to cancel the activity up to 2 weeks before the starting date. In that case, registration fees received will be fully reimbursed. EIPA accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred (travel, accommodation, etc.).
A few days before the start of the course you will receive the log-in details for accessing the course materials. You can log in here.
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Programme
Day 1 | |
08.30 | Registration of participants and distribution of course materials. |
09.00 | Opening of the course: Introduction to the Programme, Objectives and Methodology Iwona Karwot, Senior Lecturer and Project Leader, EIPA |
09.15 | Tour de table: Presentation of the Trainers and Participants to encourage networking Luc T’Joen, Active Senior, European Court of Auditors and Iwona Karwot |
Part I – Setting the scene: what is a performance audit, and how do we do this? | |
09.45 | Performance Audit Approach and Objectives: The “WHAT”: what is the ECA; what are the different types of audit; the strategy for selecting topics for a performance audit; the “three E’s” (Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness); the risk assessment; the Programme Logic Model (PLM); what are audit questions; the full-scale overview of the process. Luc T’Joen |
11.15 | Questions and Answers |
11.30 | Coffee Break |
12.00 | The “HOW”: the audit plan with the Evidence Collection Plan (ECP) and a focus on benchmarking and the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Nicholas Edwards, Senior Auditor – Chamber 1 – Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, European Court of Auditors |
13.15 | Questions and Answers |
13.30 | Joint lunch |
15.00 | The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) (the legal base of the RRF, its functioning and effects. The advantages of the RRF as an additional funding framework, the risks and the challenges of having different funding tools at the same time). This session will also include the impacts of the amendments of the Plans (integrated revisions related to RePowerEU); issues affecting the regularity of RRF payments (from the ECA’s perspective); reversal of satisfactorily fulfilled milestones and targets, and whether RRF so far has led to the administrative simplification that the Member States had hoped for? Elisa Cameirano, Auditor – Chamber 5 – Financing and administering the Union, European Court of Auditors |
16.15 | Questions and Answers |
16.30 | Workshop I: Planning an audit on results in ESIF and RRF: WHAT and HOW to audit? Several case studies have been developed. Participants can indicate their preference; as soon as there are five participants, the group can work as an audit team on:
Each participant will be able to practice:
Luc T’Joen, Nicholas Edwards and Elisa Cameirano |
17.30 | Plenary session with short group presentations and advice from the trainers |
18.00 | End of the first day and sightseeing tour of Madrid |
20.15 | Official dinner |
DAY 2 | |
Part II – Showcasing of real-life findings of ECA performance audits and their lessons learned | |
09.00 | Presentation of real-life findings of a selection of recent interesting performance audits in the domain of digitalisation (basic digital skills, digitalisation at school and Digitising European Industry) and sustainability (batteries, multimodal infrastructures and road safety) Luc T’Joen |
10.30 | Questions and Answers |
10.45 | Coffee Break |
11.15 | Presentation of real-life findings of a selection of recent interesting performance audits in the domain of energy and climate change (gas security of supply, industrial strategy for renewable hydrogen, biodiversity, CO2 emissions from cars, biofuels in transport etc.) Nicholas Edwards |
12.45 | Questions and Answers |
13.00 | Joint Lunch |
15.00 | Presentation of real-life findings of a selection of recent interesting performance audits in the field of RRF (The Design of the Commission’s control systems on RRF” and “The Recovery and Resilience Facility monitoring framework, as well as presentation of what other audits have been done by the ECA; what is upcoming and when, and what are the key lessons so far). Elisa Cameirano |
16.00 | Questions and Answers |
Part III – Reporting on a performance audit | |
16.15 | The different reporting products of the ECA (annual report, special reports, reviews, opinions, etc.) explained, and useful tips on how to draft a good audit report.
Luc T’Joen |
16.30 | Workshop II: What report would you publish? Using the detailed feedback of the morning presentations on the real-life findings on the performance audit developed, participants will continue working in teams, guided by the Court’s experts, on the following:
Luc T’Joen, Nicholas Edwards and Elisa Cameirano |
17.30 | Plenary session with short group presentations, challenging and advice from the trainers |
18.00 | End of the second day |
DAY 3 | |
Part IV – Impact and follow-up of a performance audit | |
09.00 | Examples of impact of performance audits – Follow-up of recommendations Luc T’Joen |
Part V – Implementing a performance audit in your organisation in the programming period 2021-2017 | |
09.30 | How to implement a performance audit in your organisation: a discussion on practical cases within your organisation. In this session, participants may share their own experiences on measuring audit results, including the specificities of their organisation/country, so as to receive professional advice from the ECA experts Luc T’Joen and Elisa Cameirano |
10.30 | Questions and Answers |
10.45 | Coffee Break |
Part VI – Creative thinking | |
11.15 | Workshop III: Creative thinking Each participant will work in a team to practice a few specific exercises to test their ability to work as a group while thinking about ‘out of the box’ solutions Luc T’Joen, Elisa Cameirano and Iwona Karwot |
12.45 | Plenary session with short group presentations and advice from the trainers |
13.00 | Closure of the course and distribution of EIPA Certificates to the Participants Iwona Karwot and Luc T’Joen |