In a Covid-19 issue paper, the Court of Audit published recommendations for government crisis management on Tuesday. They are based on tests published by the control body about the pandemic. That is why modern legal bases and precise funding criteria are needed.
The Court of Auditors has already published 18 audits on the subject of Corona and several are still in progress. The resulting recommendations are now available for pandemic management and Covid-19 relief, as well as for an effective control system and a crisis-resilient organization.
“I understand the Court of Audit’s contribution to the development of improvement potential,” says ACA chair Margit Kraker in the foreword to the current issue paper.
Epidemic law and pandemic plan not up to date
In reports on the first year of the pandemic, the Court found that preparations for managing the pandemic by health authorities were not sufficient, even though the need for action had been identified before the pandemic. For example, there is criticism of the legal situation: According to the Court of Audit, the Epidemic Act and the national pandemic plan from 2006 are no longer up to date.
The Supervisory Body therefore recommends that appropriate legal bases and contingency plans be put in place. Well-functioning reporting systems are needed, and there is also a need for clearly regulated interaction between the Ministry of Health, hospitals and the established area. There was no general legal regulation for an information and cooperation obligation in a crisis.
Support measures amounting to EUR 47.7 billion
At the end of 2022, 47.7 billion euros in support measures were paid out or approved by the federal government, according to the newspaper. Of this, 14.3 billion euros were subsidies from the specially established aid organization COFAG, 9.8 billion euros went to short-time work. The Court’s recommendations include, for example, a clear definition of responsibilities, funding objectives and parameters, a precise design of support measures and a precise definition of funding criteria.
Some of the criteria for COFAG’s business support were imprecise – the companies applying were not required to explain their insolvency or a specific liquidity bottleneck for which the grants were intended. A combination of sales replacement and short-time working would also not have been ruled out, which, according to the Court, led to a “systematic over-financing of personnel costs” – only in November 2020 would this have led to an over-financing of up to EUR 29 million in 50 selected large companies.
The Court also criticized the aid control system. Key eligibility requirements were not systematically checked, such as child benefits, which were granted without evidence from the first months of the pandemic until March 2021. The Court recommends establishing guidelines for checking funding needs, developing concepts for checking ex post and ensuring transparency of funding.
Lack of IT security
Business operations must also be guaranteed in crisis situations, as the Court of Audit pointed out, among other things, the lack of IT security for civil servants working from home. According to the Court, existing expertise and structures in the administration must also be used for external assignments and knowledge transfer must be guaranteed. This was too small at COFAG, for which, according to the Court of Audit, a large number of external services were purchased, especially for legal advice and the examination of subsidy applications. By mid-2022, this would cost around 36 million euros.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
