The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded the Czech presidency of the EU Council without any significant shortcomings – with the exception of one instance.

The Czech Republic's presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022 cost a total of 2.033 billion Czech crowns. Of this, the Government Office (ÚV) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MZV) spent a total of 913.7 million crowns on the presidency. A review of a sample of expenditures by these two institutions revealed no significant deficiencies. According to the NKÚ (Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic), both offices planned and used funds from 2020 to 2023 to support the presidency in accordance with established priorities, the approved structure of expenditures, and based on actual and documented needs. The Government Office served as the central coordinator of the presidency and awarded the most financially significant public contracts. During a review of these contracts, the NKÚ identified one case in which the Government Office did not conduct a tender process.

In a sample of 23 public contracts, the NKÚ verified that the Government Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs complied with legal regulations. There was one exception: the Government Office violated the Public Procurement Act when it did not conduct a tender process for the acquisition of technical equipment worth approximately 39 million crowns, intended for an informal summit at Prague Castle. According to the NKÚ, this is a fact that suggests a violation of budgetary discipline.

The Government Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made adjustments to the budget for the presidency. The NKÚ found that these adjustments were based on real needs that arose during the presidency, and that they were justified and relevant to the presidency.

A total of 97 temporary, structured positions were created in both offices to support the preparation and implementation of the entire presidency. As the NKÚ verified, these temporary positions were eliminated after the end of the presidency. A total of 211 temporary positions were created across all participating government departments.

The NKÚ conducted an international comparison of expenditures on the preparation and implementation of the presidency of the Council of the EU. It compared fifteen member states that held the presidency between 2013 and 2023: Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. This was an independent investigation by the NKÚ based on information obtained from publicly available sources. Despite the limited comparability of the available data, the auditors concluded that the expenditures for the Czech presidency were slightly below the average for the EU countries examined.

EU member states take turns holding the presidency, which lasts for six months, every 13 years. The Czech Republic has held the presidency of the EU twice: from July 1 to December 31, 2022, and in the first half of 2009.

NKÚ / gnews - RoZ