European subsidies were the main topic of the regular meeting of the Supreme Audit Office representatives with EU Ambassadors
PRESS RELEASE ON THE MEETING OF THE SUPREME AUDIT OFFICE WITH EU AMBASSADORS – 21 February 2024
The traditional meeting of representatives of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) with Ambassadors of EU countries, representatives of the European Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place on Wednesday 21 February 2024 at the SAO headquarters in Prague. Representatives of 20 countries including 13 Ambassadors accepted the invitation. The President of the SAO Miloslav Kala and his colleagues presented especially the results of the audits of the use of EU subsidies.
According to the SAO, the system of subsidies is complicated, bloated, difficult to manage, administratively demanding and therefore costly. The SAO estimated the costs of administering programmes co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds for the years 2014 to 2020 at almost CZK 30 billion. It summarises its findings annually in the EU Report. In 2023, 14 audits of European subsidies were carried out by the SAO, in which auditors came up with more than 400 findings.
President Miloslav Kala further informed the participants of the meeting that in the 30 years of its existence, the SAO has carried out 1,113 audits of more than 12,000 institutions and audited assets worth a total of CZK 6.3 trillion. According to him, the SAO tries to bring into the public space the really key issues that have been troubling the country. The SAO then seeks to amplify the impact of its findings and contribute to positive change in society.
The participants also had the opportunity to learn about the results of the SAO's three-year presidency of EUROSAI, the international organisation of European auditors, ending this May. Afterwards, the guests toured the new SAO headquarters, which was awarded the prize Construction of the Year 2023.
Communication Department