A man, a dog and an EU-funded four-wheel drive: auditing in the field
ECA auditors regularly go out into the field to check the situation on the spot, e.g. in candidate countries or potential candidate countries. Often enough, this leads not only to relevant findings about the way EU financial support is used, but also to interesting experiences and anecdotes. Jussi Bright shares one of his field experiences when he was head of task for an audit assessing the performance of EU aid for justice and home affairs projects in the Western Balkans.
By Jussi Bright, Investment for Cohesion, Growth and Inclusion Directorate I
Auditing the results of the integrated border management programme
When I see this photo that was published in ECA special report 12/2009 on the effectiveness of justice and home affairs projects in the Western Balkans, one particular story of an audit in the field comes to mind. Justice and home affairs projects deal with integrated border management (IBM), and judiciary and police matters. In this case, I was auditing an IBM project on the Greek-facing border of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
A modern IBM strategy is based on four key principles: communication, intelligence, mobility and fire power. To help implement this strategy, the European Commission provides aid for pre-accession countries in the form of technical assistance and equipment. Our role was to examine whether the programme’s intended results had been achieved and sustained: in other words, whether illegal border crossings could be detected more easily. In this specific case, I audited the ‘vehicles for border police’ project, as exemplified by a four-wheel drive jeep to increase the mobility of the border police.
Visuals bringing back memories
First of all, I should stress that it was quite a challenge to include the above photo in the report. While there was general agreement that our audit reports could benefit from more visuals, critics said: ‘Of course Mr Bright wants this photo in the report: he’s in it!’ My response was that although this is technically correct, it is mainly my back that is visible in the picture and I doubt whether even my Mum could recognise me. I recall adding: ‘You can call it vanity, but the idea of a photo is to show the public that unlike many other audit offices, the ECA generally goes on the spot to check project results, be they motorways in Poland, jobs created by SMEs in Portugal, or a four-wheel drive vehicle in operation on the EU’s external border’.
I also recall that this border section was my second choice for a visit; I actually wanted to visit the border facing Kosovo.* ‘Sorry, no: too dangerous,’ said Paul, the EU project manager in Skopje. ‘I hope you’re not trying to keep me away from some interesting audit findings,’ I quipped. Then Paul showed me a border police vehicle that had been ambushed recently and suggested going to Gevgelija on the Greek border. I thought this was an excellent idea…
A man, a dog and an empty field
It turned out that visiting Gevgelija was not a bad choice at all. There were many illegal border crossings happening there. Almost exclusively, these involved Macedonians crossing the border to work on Greek farms. While we were standing on the border, the border police (the man in green) suddenly got a call: somebody had been arrested. We all jumped into our jeeps. With adrenalin coursing through my veins, I wondered what to expect: something serious involving an organised crime syndicate, perhaps? No: we found an old man and a young dog sitting in the middle of an empty field. The man was sad, but the dog was clearly enjoying the unexpected attention. Against all expectations, the man was Greek; the dog, however, was Macedonian. That was the key to the mystery: the man was a recreational hunter and needed a new hunting dog. A trained dog is worth thousands of euros in Greece, but is much cheaper on the other side of the border. To save some money and avoid veterinary checks, he had crossed the border illegally, but was caught returning back home. So no thrilling story, but something rather down to earth, albeit illegal.
From field work to case study
We let the police get on with the paperwork, as we had to rush back to Skopje to meet the Minister of the Interior (an audit mission in the field can also include such encounters). The news was faster than us, however, and the Minister greeted me with open arms, referring to our recent finding in the field and praising me for keeping a cool head in such a situation. I thanked her for her warm words, but was thinking of the statistical likelihood of what had just happened. All this had occurred at the exact time the ECA auditors were there. Well, at least I had a nice case study based on a true story for my next training course on the auditor’s sceptical mind. If you want to know more about our findings on the effectiveness of EU support for border management in the Western Balkans, the full tale is available in special report 12/2009.
* This designation is without prejudice on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the International Court of Justice opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
This article was first published on the August-September 2018 issue of the ECA Journal. The contents of the interviews and the articles are the sole responsibility of the interviewees and authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Court of Auditors.