About us

The audit authority is part of the Ministry of Finance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an organizational unit independent of the established management and control system (managing authority, certifying authority and intermediate bodies). The audit authority is responsible for issuing an audit opinion on the accounts of the managing authority and the certifying authority in accordance with international auditing standards.

The audit authority carries out audits of the effective functioning of the management and control system at the bodies involved in the program. In addition, expenditure reported to the EU Commission as eligible for funding after the call for funds has been checked is audited on the basis of a random statistical sample of both the bodies involved in the program and the funding recipients. The results of the audits are summarized in an annual audit report on 15 February and submitted to the EU Commission.

In addition to the activities described, the audit authority also prepares an expert opinion on the designation of the managing authority and the certifying authority, which is a prerequisite for interim payments from the EU Commission to the state of NRW.

The certifying authority for the ERDF/JTF program NRW 2021-2027 is assigned to Unit 523 "Certifying Authority ERDF" in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy NRW. The certifying authority bears overall responsibility for the payment processing of all ERDF/JTF program funds.

The main tasks include:

• Prepare payment applications and the annual accounts, submit them to the EU Commission and certify that they result from a reliable accounting system.
• Certify to the European Commission that the payment claims and accounts are complete, accurate and true and that the expenditure accounted for complies with applicable law and has been incurred for operations selected in accordance with the applicable ERDF and JTF criteria.
• ensure that a system for the electronic recording and storage of accounting data of each operation is in place, recording all data necessary for the preparation of payment claims and accounts.
• keep records of expenditure declared to the Commission, of public support paid to beneficiaries and of amounts to be recovered, recovered and retained.