Eduardo González
The Court of Accounts has made public its report on the economic and financial management of the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) in the period 2020-2021, in which “non-compliance with contract regulations, certain deficiencies in compliance with personnel regulations and some non-compliance with respect to transparency and equality.”
According to the report, the FIIAPP allocated 109 million euros in 2020 and 2021 to technical-public cooperation projects within the framework of the 2030 Agenda. The FIIAPP is a state public sector foundation that is dedicated to international cooperation in the field. of administration and public policies. The FIIAPP Board of Trustees is chaired by the Vice President of Economy, Nadia Calviño. The vice presidency falls to the State Secretary for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, among others, is also part of the Board of Trustees.
Among other objectives, the Court of Auditors’ report has analyzed the causes of the delay in the entity’s rendering of accounts, has verified the reliability of its accounts, has verified compliance with regulations and has evaluated management systems and procedures.
The study, as reported by the Court on November 30 in a press release, has detected, in the period corresponding to the 2020-2021 financial year, “non-compliance with contract regulations, certain deficiencies in compliance with personnel regulations and some breaches in terms of transparency and equality.”
In the years analyzed, the FIAPP formalized a total of 349 contracts worth 83 million euros, in addition to another 455 smaller contracts for an amount of four million. Among the deficiencies noted by the Court are non-compliance with Law 9/2017 on Sector Contracts in various contracts which include the lack of guarantee that the contract had been awarded to the offer with the best quality-price ratio, the failure requirement of a definitive economic guarantee, the lack of accreditation of the financial and technical solvency of the successful bidders, the failure to justify the receipt of the service or supply and, in the case of minor contracts, improper divisions.
In terms of personnel, the Court has detected that the FIIAPP exceeded the limits established for the hiring of temporary personnel in 2021. Likewise, the audit concludes that the wage gap between genders is 47%. This gap is influenced by the positions of personnel designated by other public administrations to carry out projects. These positions, which are located in the higher remuneration segments, fall mostly to men.
In addition, the report recommends the improvement of management and internal control systems and procedures, since “deficiencies have been observed in the planning and programming systems and measurement of the results obtained in their compliance and in the management of the projects that execute.” In terms of internal control, the report indicates that there was a high degree of decentralization of accounting management and contracting management and monitoring functions. Furthermore, the report concludes that the FIIAPP did not carry out control actions in the audited period in the area of contracting and the technical and economic management of projects, precisely the area in which, according to the results obtained in the Court’s audit, it was more necessary to apply review and internal control procedures. For these reasons, the Court of Auditors recommends that the FIIAPP “intensify controls in compliance with contractual regulations, as well as develop internal project management regulations, improve the processes of the accounting information system and strengthen its internal control system.”
The Court of Accounts decided to initiate this audit of the FIIAPP due, fundamentally, to the delays registered in the rendering of its annual accounts. This delay with respect to the legal deadlines was 528 days in fiscal year 2020 and 338 in 2021. The report confirms that the main reason for the delays was the disorderly and deficient process of changing the accounting application since 2018. In any case, the Court issues a favorable opinion on the 2020 and 2021 accounts, once rendered.
The FIIAPP, created in 1998, currently executes a volume of projects worth more than 400 million euros in more than 120 countries, with a significant percentage of European financing. The Foundation works to improve public policies and public systems that can impact development, from climate, migration, justice and security to digitalization, employment, transportation, or trade and, in a way central, social cohesion.
