Joanna Kudełko, Andrzej Prusek, Kazimierz Zieliński, Wydawnictwo Uniwer-sytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie, Kraków 2011, s. 168.
Celem integracji europejskiej jest budowa spójnego, o podobnym stopniu rozwoju, obszaru obejmującego wszystkie kraje członkowskie. Oznacza to wspieranie awansu cywilizacyjnego regionów słabszych oraz wyrównywanie poziomu życia wszystkich obywateli Unii. Instrumentami polityki spójności są, obok dotacji finansowych, działania na rzecz rozwoju obszarów wiejskich i podnoszenia konkurencyjności go-spodarki, regionalizacja, wspólna polityka ekologiczna. Publikacja przedstawia ana-lizę tej polityki w kontekście jej wdrażania w Polsce. Część pierwsza obejmuje gene-zę, cele i zakres, w drugiej ocenione zostały jej założenia i efekty realizacji, a także perspektywy. Część trzecia odnosi się do rezultatów polityki spójności w poszcze-gólnych regionach naszego kraju, zwłaszcza słabiej rozwiniętych.
sygnały o książkach
Contents
Auditing
8President of the NIK Reports to the Parliament 8 Jacek Jezierski, the President of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), presented the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament, i.e. the Sejm, with the report on the execution of the state budget and monetary policy guidelines in 2010, and with the report on the activity of the NIK in 2010. The NIK gave positive opinions, or positive opinions with some reservations, on the implementation of all budget parts and financial plans of state legal persons and earmarked funds. The report on the state budget execution comprises the detailed findings of the NIK’s audits. While the report on the activity of the NIK presents the implementation of the NIK’s annual work plan, results of individual audits and a list of de lege ferenda proposals related to changes in some legal and executive acts. The NIK’s activity report also presents, among many, the performance of the College of the NIK and the execution of the NIK’s budget, information on its staff, advancement of its IT services and international cooperation activities. It also describes the NIK’s collaboration with the Parliament and other bodies of inspection and control, as well as the manner of handling complaints and suggestions.
BEATA BŁASIAK-NOWAK, MARZENA RAJCZEWSKA: Estimating
the Costs and Benefits of Controls 25
Structural Funds of the European Union are spent under shared management by the European Commission and a Member State. The issue is regulated in the Community law and in the provisions of the national laws of 27 Member States, as a result of which complex financial management systems come into being. Complicated rules for using European assistance add to increasing costs of control activities within management systems and auditing of operational programmes. Supreme Audit Institutions of the EU, including the NIK, have attempted to estimate their cost-effectiveness. The article depicts the assumptions, methods and results of this audit.
MIŁOSZ ANCZAKOWSKI: Internal Audit Independence 35 On the basis of the binding regulations on internal audit in public finance sector units, two categories of internal audit independence can be identified. One category is related to the manner of auditing as a form of activity performed within the given unit, while the other category is connected with the independence of an internal auditor or an internal audit unit, and can be referred to as institutional independence. The author of the article, making references to specialist literature and the law, discusses the notion of internal audit independence, shows how regulations in the field have evolved, and presents how the binding regulations guarantee internal audit independence.
ADRIAN GOSK: Methodology of Auditing of Human Resources
Management Processes in Self-governments 45
Administrative services can be regarded as a product of the public administration. In the case of self-governments, whose relations with citizens are very close, the quality of administrative services makes a particularly sensitive issue. Disregarding factors that are independent of the manners and methods of management, the author of the article focuses on areas where improvements can add to enhancing the quality of administrative services, and he presents the role that auditors can play here, especially internal auditors, who have been more and more frequently employed in self-governmental units.
KRZYSZTOF ZALEGA: Community’s Policy for the Development
of Rural Areas 56
The development of rural areas is often considered equivalent to agriculture. In practice, however, there are differences between the two, with regard to the way of financing and management, and types of measures supported from the European Union’s budget and projects implemented. These issues are regulated in the EU law and in national laws. The article presents the specifics of the policy for the development of rural areas, including auditing of its measures carried out by the European Court of Auditors that has indicated that the area is particularly prone to irregularities.
THE SETTLEMENTS OF CONTROLS 80
ZENOBIA KAZIMIERCZAK, JOLANTA KĘDRA: Managements
of Voivodeships as Managing Authorities 80
The NIK pays a lot of attention to performance of tasks co-financed from the European Union’s budget. In 2010, the NIK conducted two audits in the area: one related to the selection and realisation of individual key projects, and the other – to the realisation by managements of voivodeships (i.e. Polish largest administrative regions) of selected
contents
tasks of managing authorities for regional operational programmes, including the selection of projects by way of tender. The article presents the details of the NIK’s findings, indicating the irregularities detected and problem areas.
OTHER AUDITS OF THE NIK 90
Findings Presented for Publication in June and July 2011 – ed. 90 This section comprises audits that have been completed by the NIK in selected areas and published in the form of pronouncements on audit results.
State and Society
95PRZEMYSŁAW SZUSTAKIEWICZ: Public Information 95
Article 61 of the Constitution of Poland of 2 April 1997, provides citizens with the right to acquire information on the activity of public authority bodies and persons who perform public functions, and its procedures are set out in the act on public information. This right also comprises access to information on the activity of self-governmental economic and professional bodies, and other persons and organisational units, to the extent in which they perform tasks of public authorities and manage municipal or State Treasury assets. The author presents the history of the right to information in Poland and he analyses its definition, whose interpretation is still problematic although several decades have passed since the adoption of the act.
TADEUSZ CHROŚCICKI: Polish Economy in 2010
and Forecasts for the Years 2011– 2012 113
The author presents the condition of the national economy in 2010, giving reference to the most important macroeconomic indices and the impact of the external environment. He recall the world’s trends, focusing on the situation in European Union’s Member States and presents Poland in comparison with them. He also attempts to make a forecast for economic development in the next two years, indicating potential threats.
International Cooperation
138PAWEŁ BANAŚ, JACEK MAZUR: Peer Review of the SAI of Slovakia 138 The peer review of the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic took place from April 2010 to April 2011, and the final report on the peer review was presented in June 2011 in Bratislava. The SAI of Slovakia had invited the SAIs of Estonia,
Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom to carry out the peer review, on the basis of the memorandum of understanding signed by the Heads of the said SAIs and the INTOSAI guidelines. The article presents the specifics of the peer review, its course and selected issues that it covered.
EWA MIĘKINA: European Court of Auditors Promotes Researchers 147 The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has established an award for research into public sector auditing. The award will be granted every two years for accomplishments that take into account the ECA’s mission and the values it promotes. The winners of the award are selected by a team of experts from public audit bodies, former of present members of the ECA and university professors from EU Member States. The first laureates have been already awarded.
Reviews and Notes About New Books
149REVIEW 149
MAŁGORZATA NIEZGÓDKA-MEDEK: Review of the Publication
by Elżbieta Jarzęcka-Siwik and Bogdan Skwarka: Supreme Audit Office.
Comments on the Act on the Supreme Audit Office
The publication is the second comment on the Act on the NIK in the history of the institution established over ninety years ago. The authors of the publication, who have been working at the NIK for many years, present the legal status of the NIK, including the latest amendments (in force since 2 June 2011) and the future ones (to enter into force on 2 June 2012). They present the essence of these amendments, as well as analyse them critically, revealing legal doubts and scepticism as for several new solutions introduced. The publication is reviewed by a judge of the Polish Supreme Administrative Court (NSA).
NOTES ABOUT NEW BOOKS 154
Contents
156contents
Skład i łamanie: Joanna Zakrzewska
Druk i oprawa: Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza A. GRZEGORCZYK Oddano do druku w sierpniu 2011 r.
Nakład 1000 egz.
Prenumerata
tel. 22 444-5781, 22 444-5401
Cena egzemplarza – 18 zł. Prenumerata roczna – 108 zł Wpłaty na konto: NBP O/O Warszawa,
nr 14 1010 1010 0036 8122 3100 0000, Najwyższa Izba Kontroli