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AFROSAI Women Leadership Workshop

On December 6, 2017 a delegation of 19 women in leadership positions from eleven African Supreme Audit Institutions visited the Bundesrechnungshof in Bonn. The visit was part of a Women Leadership Academy developed by AFROSAI (African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions) in cooperation with GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).

Current Issues

Kicking off professional cooperation in EUROSAI

Fostering professional cooperation among Supreme Audit Institutions in Europe and beyond is a goal of EUROSAI (European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions). The Bundesrechnungshof and the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic are jointly responsible for brokering such cooperation, ranging from cooperative audits to exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Current Issues

Risky gap in the control of European banking supervision

A comprehensive audit mandate assessing the supervisory review and evaluation process of banking supervision is no guaranteed in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). Before November 2014, national Supreme Audit Institutions audit scope went far beyond what the ECA is able to exercise today vis-à-vis the ECB.

Current Issues

European Commission chooses wrong instrument risking waste of funds

The German SAI speaks out against plans to implement harmonised European Public Accounting Standards EPSAS. The project will not accomplish the goal of sustainable public budgets.

Current Issues

Press Release

Auditors from around the European Union will need to work together more closely in future if cross-border financial problems such as VAT fraud are to be addressed efficiently, the head of the German national audit office has said while attending a conference in Luxembourg.

Current Issues

History of German SAI during Nazi rule is being reappraised

The German SAI (Bundesrechnungshof) gives a €300,000 grant towards the research project conducted by Hans-Peter Ullmann, a professor at the Historical Institute of Cologne University.

Current Issues

Savings potential of €110 million

The Federal Transport Ministry is planning to upgrade federal motorway A 8 to six lanes between the valley of the river Inn and the border. The construction of this 70 kilometres long motorway section will cost €1.2 billion. We do not consider it necessary to have the whole motorway section upgraded to six lanes as long as this is not proven to provide good value for money. The Ministry could save at least €110 million.

Current Issues

Abolish tax privileges of tobacco industry

Tobacco products which the manufacturers give free to their employees are exempt from tobacco tax. This exemption is no longer justified, is contrary to tax equity and questionable in terms of health policy. Since 1989, we have repeatedly recommended that the exemption be abolished. The rejection of our recommendation by the Federal Finance Ministry has resulted in losses of tax revenue in the total amount of €171.7 million

Kay Scheller - Präsident des Bundesrechnungshofes

President Kay Scheller

Curriculum vitae

UN Board of Auditors

Video

Advisory Report

Granting of financial assistance

Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs circumvents legal requirements.

Management Letters

E-Commerce

Swift action needed to address tax erosion.

Sustainably consolidate the federal budget; create financial leeway – review tax privileges

“Opportunities have rarely been better to make the federal budget fit for the future”, said Kay Scheller, President of the German SAI when he formally presented the SAI’s 2017 annual report in Berlin on 12 December 2017. “The more sustainable the federal budget is, the less it is vulnerable to economic cycle fluctuations. To create sufficient financial leeway, all tax reliefs and allowances require a thorough review. Financial leeway is needed for the Federal Government to tackle the enormous financial challenges lying ahead.”

Special Report

Putting funds for employment and education to effective use

The Europe 2020 strategy is designed to promote growth and employment in the EU. The Member States' programmes for the use of Structural Funds allocated to them provide a sound basis for achieving these objectives, although some weaknesses have been found. This is the conclusion drawn by the “Working Group on Structural Funds VII" in its final aggregate report. The weaknesses mainly concern the complexity of regulations and the evaluation of success.

German language start-up courses (section 421, German Social Code III)

Between October and December 2015, the field offices of the Federal Employment Agency were authorised to fund German language start-up courses, if these were necessary to support job integration. We have studied the requirements for the start-up courses set and implemented by the Federal Employment Agency.

“We acknowledge the efforts made by the Federal Employment Agency to foster integration of refugees in a difficult situation”, emphasizes Kay Scheller, President of the German SAI, when issuing the management letter. “Particularly in such a case, however, some baseline rules governing the design and implementation of language courses need to be in place.” In a similar future situation, the Federal Employment Agency should set the terms and conditions required to ensure that the aims of the measures taken can be achieved in the best way possible.

Advisory Report

Curtailing of the German SAI’s audit mandate in the field of banking supervision and financial institutions

Since the European Central Bank has taken over the task of banking supervision of some 120 financial institutions or banking groups and since the Single Resolution Mechanism has been put into place, the external audit function has been severely curtailed. A report by the European Court of Auditors confirms that a significant audit gap has emerged.

Advisory Report

Measures taken to implement energy transition

“Energy policy from a single source“ is the slogan used by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy to implement the national task of energy transition. At federal government level, the Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy has assumed lead responsibility for overall coordination of this task. However, the Federal Ministry can do more to adequately perform this role. Currently no coordinated exchange is taking place either within the Ministry or with other government departments or the German federal states. Apart from that, the Federal government does not have an overview of the financial impact of energy transition. Key questions such as “How much does energy transition cost the government?” or “How much should energy transition cost the government?” have not been asked and remain unanswered. The federal government cannot specify what impact individual energy policy measures have and how efficient they are. The strategic considerations governing energy transition give lower priority to the goals of energy security and affordability as compared to environmental impact.

The Bundesrechnungshof’s report on the steps taken to implement energy transition provides a large number of suggestions and recommendations for improvement. On 28 April 2017, the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, a sub-committee of the Budget Committee held a concluding debate on the report. The Public Accounts Committee’s proposed resolution has taken up nearly all of the recommendations made by the Bundesrechnungshof.

Advisory Report

Planning a new Fehmarn Sound Bridge

The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure intends to decommission the existing Fehmarn Sound bridge and build a new bridge. The German SAI found major shortcomings in the relevant capital expenditure appraisal. The bridge is in a bad condition, also because the German Railways company has for many years neglected its duty of proper maintenance. As a result, the Public Accounts Committee demanded that the Ministry ensure the safe and smooth operation of the bridge until the structures designed to replace the former bridge are completed. As to the capital expenditure appraisal, the Committee wants the Ministry to include the option of retrofitting the existing bridge.

Special Report

Combating VAT fraud

“VAT fraud causes significant shortfalls in tax revenues. In order to effectively combat VAT fraud, European Member States need to work more closely together. They need to share information more speedily about presumptive fraud cases and increase the quality of their data”, said Kay Scheller, President of the Bundesrechnungshof, on the occasion of the publication of a joint report of the supreme audit institutions of Austria, Germany and Hungary on combating VAT fraud.

Advisory Report

Report on the proposed implementation of harmonised European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) in the Member States of the European Union

The European Commission plans to introduce a set of harmonised and binding European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) based on accrual accounting. Supplementary to the status report on the relevant facts and figures developed by the Federal Ministry of Finance (Budget Committee Paper 18/0027), the German Supreme Audit Institution (Bundesrechnungshof) advises the Budget Committee on the matter. In the present report, the Bundesrechnungshof discusses unresolved issues, chances and risks associated with the proposed EPSAS implementation.

Advisory Report

Report on the Federal Government’s revenue from emissions trading

The aim of introducing emission rights was to reduce the emission of gases harming the climate. The Federal Government intended to use the revenues from emissions trading to finance additional expenditure on energy transition and climate protection. To make up for the declining revenue resulting from falling prices in emissions trading, the Federal Government needs to cut planned expenditure or raise funds from other sources. In its report, the German SAI outlines the opportunities and risks of emissions trading at the European level so that these may be adequately considered in the context of the federal budget and the Energy and Climate Fund.

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