Performance Audits of RRF and ESIFs 2021-2027 by the European Court of Auditors

Many rules and procedures apply to the very significant amounts of EU money that have been invested during the programming period 2021-2027 from the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Therein, what are the common errors and omissions found in the performance audits of the European Court of Auditors? How do we go about using the funds from the RRF and ESIF effectively and efficiently? How do we avoid financial corrections?

This highly practical course, provided by experts from the European Court of Auditors (ECA), will allow participants to become familiar with these rules and procedures, and discuss many case studies. Moreover, the current state of play of the RRF will be presented and important tools will be explained (e.g. CBA, benchmarking, key performance Indicators) whilst participants work in small groups on various examples as well as sharing their own experience.

What will you learn:

ECA’s experts will focus on:

1. The rules of ESIFs and RRF: they will explain briefly the rules of the ESIFs and discuss in depth those of the RRF; in particular, its legal base, functioning and effects. They will highlight 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;
2. The procedures of how to correctly assess audit results: they will share their extensive experience on all aspects of each stage of the performance audit process: strategic planning, preparation, implementation, reporting and assessing impact.
3. New case studies in different fields (digitalisation, climate, environment, transport, sustainability) focusing on the audit methodologies, the tools used, and how to measure economy, efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, the presentations will elaborate on cost-benefit analysis, benchmarking and key performance indicators;
4. The current state of play of the RRF: considerations from past, present and future audits on the RRF. They will also discuss common errors and omissions.
5. Sharing of experiences by the participants: through several practical workshops, where participants will together develop their knowledge on a selection of proposed topics, they will also get the opportunity to share their own experiences on performance measuring within their own organisation.

Course methodology:

After the presentations, participants will be able to choose the topic of their preference 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.

You will increase your practical knowledge on measuring results and be able to apply this knowledge to the development of a results-based analysis system within your organisation.

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 specialised 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: 2520601

Course venue – to be determined
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 dinner and walking tour. 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.