The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022 cost a total of CZK 2.033 billion. Of this, the Government Office (ÚV) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spent a total of CZK 913.7 million on the Presidency. CZK 7,913. The audit of a sample of the expenditure of these two institutions did not reveal any significant deficiencies. According to the SAO, both offices planned and spent funds for the Presidency in 2020-2023 in accordance with the priorities set, according to the approved expenditure structure and on the basis of actual and documented needs. The Government Office was the central coordinator of the Presidency and awarded the most financially significant public contracts. During its audit, the SAO found one case where the CA did not carry out the procurement procedure.
In a sample of 23 public contracts, the SAO verified that the CA and the MFA complied with the legal regulations. The exception was one case. The Office did not carry out a procurement procedure for 39 CZK of equipment intended for an informal summit at Prague Castle. According to the SAO, this is a fact indicating a breach of budgetary discipline.
The Government Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made adjustments to the Presidency budget. The SAO found that they based their adjustments on real needs arising during the Presidency, that they were justified and that they were materially related to the Presidency.
To ensure the preparation and implementation of the entire Presidency, 97 temporary posts were created in both offices. As verified by the SAO, these temporary posts were abolished after the end of the Presidency. A total of 211 temporary posts were created by the participating ministries throughout the Presidency.
The SAO carried out an international comparison of the expenditure on the preparation and organisation of the EU Council Presidency, comparing fifteen selected Member States holding the Presidency from 2013 to 2023 - Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. This was the SAO's own investigation based on information obtained from publicly available sources. Despite the limited comparability of the available data, the auditors concluded that the expenditure on the Czech Presidency is just below the average of the EU countries assessed.
EU countries hold the EU presidency for a six-month term, which is repeated every 13 years. The Czech Republic has already held the Presidency of the Council of the EU twice - from 1 July to 31 December 2022 and in the first half of 2009.
SAO/ gnews - RoZ
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