Organisation and tasks of the control system in Poland in the process of ensuring the security of European Union funds in the financial perspective 2021-2027
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12701281Keywords:
funds from the European Union budget, control system, security of funds, irregularitiesAbstract
The control system for EU budget funds is based on a division of responsibilities between the European Commission and the administrations of the Member States. States and regions have a decisive influence on the absorption rate of these funds and are responsible for their proper management. The European Commission supervises the use of these funds in accordance with the objectives of the programmes and the financial rules of the European Union (EU). The purpose of the controls is to verify the compliance of beneficiaries with the terms of the project co-financing agreement, as well as the correctness of the separate accounting and reporting for these funds. Control of projects co-financed from European funds concerns activities undertaken by various entities and in all phases of project implementation. The audit procedure covers the area of management of funds, the scope of authority of entities managing these funds, verifies the correctness of spending the funds. The scope of control also includes the assessment of solutions adopted within the framework of individual operational programmes in relation to the applicable EU and national legislation.
Controls over the spending of EU funds are carried out by three institutions: the institution managing a given operational programme, the certifying institution and the audit institution. The task of the institutions managing particular operational programmes is to carry out document control, among others, of the reports on the progress of project implementation and final reports. The second level of control are the certifying authorities, whose task is to certify to the European Commission that the applications for reimbursement of expenditure are correct, properly accounted for in accordance with the principles of EU law. The certifying authorities forward the claims for reimbursement to the European Commission, having first ensured that the expenditure has been subject to appropriate checks. The effectiveness of the management and control system is checked by the National Audit Authority, which provides the European Commission with an audit report and opinion. Member States are primarily responsible for detecting irregularities in the spending of EU funds. If the amount involved exceeds €10,000, they are obliged to inform the EU fraud office OLAF. The organisation and functioning of the control system for EU funds continues to be the subject of research, with the aim of providing the necessary knowledge for representatives of the managing and coordinating institutions for the implementation of the various operational programmes. The results of these studies may also be relevant for beneficiaries of EU funds who are directly involved in the process of their application and settlement. A systematic analysis of the procedures and scope of control by institutions and state control bodies involved in the process of managing EU funds has a significant impact on reducing the occurrence of irregularities and fraud.
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