Translation of "audit scope limitation " (English → French) :

One of the first paragraphs of the audit specifies its scope, and it's a limited scope.

(Indicate any limitation on the scope of the examination, for example any systemic problems, weaknesses in the management and control system, lack of supporting documentation, cases under legal proceedings, etc., and estimate the amounts of expenditure and the Community contribution affected. If the audit authority does not consider that the limitations have an impact on the expenditure declared, this should be stated.)

(Indicate any limitation on the scope of the examination, for example any systemic problems, weaknesses in the management and control system, lack of supporting documentation, cases under legal proceedings, etc and estimate the amounts of the expenditure and the Community contribution affected. If the audit authority does not consider that the limitations have an impact on the final expenditure declared, this must be stated.)

In terms of revenue, the scope of the Court’s work is limited in respect of the VAT and GNI own resources – the underlying data cannot be directly audited by the Court – and traditional own resources, where the audit cannot cover imports that have not been subject to custom supervision.

Such an approach does not ensure adequate annual reporting to Parliament; it precludes effective ministerial oversight; and it limits the scope of independent external audit to the financial statements of the foundations.

There are, however, throughout this report, mentions of specific audit findings which give some indication of the scale of potential benefits which more rigorous financial management and control could achieve, in terms of amounts which should be recovered, payments for activities which were not eligible for aid or expenditures which were not demonstrably useful in achieving policy objectives, even if they could not be considered as entirely irregular.Given the limited extent to which the Court, with the number of auditors at its disposal, can audit financial management in any ...[+++] one year, it is clear that there is great scope for improvement and that any costs incurred in securing such improvement would be recovered in a very short time.