Ministry of Finance of Estonia Auditing Structural Funds in a new Member State: the case of Estonia Helen Petrov

Setup in Estonia Ministry of Finance FIRST LEVEL IMPLEMENTING BODIES (MINISTRIES and STATE CHANCELLERY) Final Recipients Managing Authority Certifying Authority Auditing Authority SECOND LEVEL IMPLEMETING BODIES (State Agencies, Inspectorates, State Foundations)

Audit Authority Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia

The Roles of Estonian Audit Authority in Compliance assessments Audits of management and control systems Audits of operations Audit strategy Annual Control Report Opinion on the management and control systems Closure declaration

Preparing for the period (1) Legal basis for new period is established One operational programme is approved, two to go The first level and the second level implementing bodies remain mostly the same The compliance assessments are finished by November 2007 Management and control systems audits in 2008

Preparing for the period (2) Audit function more centralised to the Audit Authority Audit strategy is crucial Sampling methodology and increased audit workload? The new sampling methodology provides higher assurance – helps towards positive DAS Providing reasonable assurance to Commission that the systems function effectively

Freedom of information in Estonia Audit reports are public Information about the irregularities is public Information about the recoveries is public Available at the website of the Ministry of Finance

Thank you for your attention Helen Petrov