Presentation by Helene Gadriot-Renard, French Court of Accounts, on Performance audit of the French National Agency for Water and Aquatic environments (ONEMA), at the workshop organised by SIGMA for the Lebanese Court of Accounts on Introducing performance auditing in Supreme Audit Institutions, held in Beirut 28-29 June 2016.

1. © OECD
AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Developing performance auditing in
Supreme Audit Institutions
PERFORMANCE AUDIT
OF THE FRENCH NATIONAL AGENCY FOR WATER AND
AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS - ONEMA
Hélène Gadriot-Renard
Cour des comptes – FRANCE
(based on Court of Audit work by Mr. P.Dedryver)
Beirut 28th and 29th June 2016

2. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
OVERVIEW
Elements on the water policy of France
Facts about the ONEMA
Audit methodology
 Identification of risks
 Focus points
Findings
Recommendations
Audit outcomes
In short
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3. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Principles of the water policy
in France
Decentralization: the water district is the
cornerstone of water policy
Participation of stakeholders is its keystone
« Water pays for water »
 Users pay
 Polluters pay
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4. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Map of the water districts
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5. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU A complex multi level organisation
The central governement
 Monitoring by the Water and biodiversity department of
the Ministry of ecology
 Regulation by the French national agency for water and
aquatic environments (ONEMA)
Local water agencies
 Implementation of water policy
 Collection and redistribution of user fees
Local decision makers (local authorities, farmers,
manufacturers)
 Organisation of water and sanitation services
 Investments
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6. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU THE ONEMA
 Created in 2006 (Law on water and aquatic environments)
 Operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology
 9 regional offices, multiple local offices, and a staff of 917 people
 Annual budget: 150 M€ (from water fees collected by water
agencies)
 4 major missions
 Manage the French water system: set priorities for water
management policies and report to EU Commission (to comply with
EU framework directive on water)
 Protect aquatic environments (enforce regulations, report offenses)
 Provide technical support for territorial management of water and
restoration of quality environments
 Encourage research on sustainable management of water resources
and aquatic ecosystems
 Activity
 200 databases, 7200 technical advice given each year
 8600 inspections per year 5

7. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Audit Methodology
Check recent former audits in
same field (Law on water and
aquatic environments)
Identify risks
Focus on specific areas
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8. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
WHICH RISKS CAN YOU IDENTIFY IN TERMS OF
Responsability
Accountability
Effectiveness
Efficiency
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9. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Risks
Responsibility
 Product of data and report to EC on quality of
water
 Pledge to restore good quality of water and
aquatic environments
Accountability: poor quality of inspections
meant to improve water quality and
preserve resources
Cost efficiency and effectiveness: low in
case of perfunctory inspections
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10. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
ON WHICH POINTS WOULD YOU FOCUS
YOUR PERFORMANCE AUDIT ?
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11. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU Key audit focus areas
 Governance
 Power of the supervising authorities ?
 Organisation suited or not for given missions ?
 Working methods and means: need for indicators to
appraise effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the action
 HR
 Pay levels
 Distribution between administrative and on the field jobs
 Actual working hours, vacations, absenteeism….
 Budget and finance
 Proportion of subsidies / fees collected
 Cost of missions and of technical maintenance
 Procurement and public contracts
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12. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU Main findings
 Governance flaw: Confusion between roles of chairman of the board of
directors and of the regulatory authority
 Effectiveness and efficiency: working methods and means
inadequacies
 Too many different missions for ill managed human and financial
resources
 Bad coordination between bureaux in charge of inspections
because lack of a shared tool to follow up offences reports
 Delays in implementing project for water information system (WIS-
F) necessary to gather proper information
 Efficiency and effectiveness of inspections difficult to appreciate in
the absence of appropriate indicators
 Budget and finance weaknesses:
 Serious shortcomings of accounting and financial management
 Unsatisfactory follow-up of subsidies (overlaps and duplication of
funds have been overlooked)
 Procurement and public contracts deficiencies: weak procedures, no
management control 11

13. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU Recommendations
 Governance flaw: clearly define and separate roles of chairman of the
board of directors and of the regulatory authority
 Effectiveness and efficiency: working methods and means
inadequacies
 Improve human resources management (clear definition of tasks,
transparent rules for wages and allowances, etc…)
 Reorganise local branches and encourage cooperation with other
public services
 Define objectives and introduce a rigorous follow-up of projects
 Significantly increase the number of inspections (specifically in
endangered areas) and select the right indicators to assess their
efficiency
 Budget and finance weaknesses: ensure reliability of accounts through
appropriate procedures
 Procurement and public contracts deficiencies: improve management
control
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14. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU Audit outcomes
 Internal consequences
 Approval by the board of directors of a new six-year contract of
objectives based on all the recommendations made by the Court of
Audit
 Reform of the governance of the Agency
 Monitoring of execution of all missions
 Reinforcement of internal procedures and assessments when
finance, accounting, procurement and HR are concerned.
 External impact
 Supervising authorities’ response: evaluation of water policy, audit
of water data production, reinforcement of monitoring on expenses
 Significant media attention
 Increased public awareness, and stakeholders’ demand for
transparency on water data, its costs and uses
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15. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU IN SHORT
 Challenges
 Better knowledge on water quality for reports to EC
 Pledge to improve water quality
 Need for better cost effectiveness and efficiency
 Methodology: the need for a multimodal approach
 A legal approach : assessment of compliance with the EU framework
directive on water
 A thematic approach: water inspections and the identification of
instruments for a sustainable water management
 An institutional approach: the ONEMA, water agencies and satellite bodies
 Obstacles to be overcome (focus points for future audits)
 The difficulty of identifying who is actually in charge because of the
multiplicity of organisations involved
 The complexity of tracing financial flows
 The lack of transparency and of management control
 The need to link water policy with other public policies (ie agriculture,
energy)
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