1. PAWEL MAGDZIAREK IRREGULARITIES DETECTED DURING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAM FOR WIELKOPOLSKA REGION

2. Wielkopolska Region is a beneficiary of Regional Operational Program (WROP) for years 2007 - 13. The total amount of the Program is established as a 1 952 088 350 EUR. The European Regional Development Fund contributes 1 272 792 644 Euro. The areas of the support are: Competitiveness of Enterprises, Communication and Infrastructure, Natural Environment, Revitalization of Problem Areas, Infrastructure for Human Capital, Tourism and Cultural Environment and Technical Assistance. 2173 project were contracted, 1863 of them are completed.

3. The WROP is fully managed on the regional level. The Managing Authority is located within the Region Marshal Office (the body of the regional self- government). The central authorities – Ministry of Infrastructure and Development is responsible only for the coordination of the of the WROP (and other 15 regional programs implemented by Polish regions) and central implemented Operational Programs.

4. Implementation of the WROP is controlled by Audit Authority – the Ministry of Finance and the regional branch of the Audit Authority – the Treasury Control Office in Poznan. The Audit Authority on-the-spot checks and audits are based on the proper sample and risk assessment. Audit Authority is also a national counterpart for OLAF. IT manages the Irregularity Management System.

5. Public Procurement System is based on the Public Procurement Law (implemented in 2004). There are no regional exemption. The Public Procurement Law is applicable on the whole territory of the country and to the all kind of public procurement. The Public Procurement Law specifies the rules and procedures for awarding public contracts, legal protection measures, control of the award of public contracts and the competent authorities. The Law is fully compliant with the EU law since 2010.

6. The authority on the area of Public Procurements are: President of the Public Procurement Office - central government body competent for matters concerning public contracts, the Council of the Public Procurements - an advisory and consultative body of the President of the Public Procurement Office and the National Appeal Chamber - competent for the examination of the appeals lodged in contract award procedures (it is a quasi-judicial body for the public procurement cases).

7. In total 54 irregularities were detected by the managing Authority. The ineligible expenditures were established on the 4 095 279 Euro. In scale of the WROP as a whole (1 952 088 350 EURO) it is less than 0,2 % of error on public procurement procedures. The Audit Authority established the rate error the on the level of 0, 79 % in year 2012 and 0. 63% in year 2013. The main types of irregularities are:

8. The main types of irregularities reduction of the scope of contract, differences between information published in the notice and in the specification, lack of notification regarding the change of the specification, extending of the term for application without notice, lack of notice regarding the procedure of the contracting entity, specification includes concrete producers/trademarks (IT operational systems), description of the procurement subject suggested one provider only,

9. excessive criteria of awarding (regarding the professional experience of potential contractor), extensive criteria of awarding of contract of road construction (all of the consortia member required to fulfill certain condition what is against the rules regarding the consortia), extensive criteria of the contract awarding (conditions impossible to fulfill), requirement of possessing of the construction equipment on the stage of tendering), requirements of the certificates not connected with the subject of procedure, requirements of the indication of the financial fluency irrelevant to the scale of the project, lack of clarification of the provisions of the specification in spite of official question from the side of tenderness.

10. CONCLUSIONS the law shall be stable, the provisions shall be changed only due to the justified circumstances, the “Book of Cases” should be prepared and published, the IMS should be improved. It should be more operational and user friendly. Access to the IMS should be extended - it should provide access to the data gathered by the other managing authorities (other regions), the checks of the procurements should be better managed. It is crucial to detect irregularities before the stage or payment or contracting. The ex ante controls should be extended, the institution of Central Contracting Unit should be considered, the legal support (outsourcing) of contracting should be treated as eligible cost of the technical assistance in the new operational programs.

11. THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION PAWEŁ MAGDZIAREK PMAGDZIAREK@WP.PL +48 606 22 69 88 PMAGDZIAREK@WP.PL