Magazine No. 26 - 2021 27 EUROSAI Activities Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia met in Trieste, Italy, on 22-23 September 2021, to mark a successful conclusion of a parallel performance audit project on managing interventions in case of sudden pollution in the Adriatic Sea. The meeting was kindly hosted by the SAI of Italy, Corte dei Conti. The parallel performance audit project was initiated by the State Audit Office of Croatia in 2019 and had gathered seven public sector audit institutions from six countries to examine the efficiency of governments in preventing and managing response systems in the case of marine pollution in the Adriatic Sea. The project resulted in a Compendium of short summaries of individual audit reports published by contributing SAIs. The integral part of the Compendium is a joint statement signed by the Heads of the SAIs during the meeting in Trieste, urging the Governments to adopt measures aimed at strengthening prevention and management response systems for marine pollution caused by sudden and accidental spills of hydrocarbons and other hazardous and noxious substances most frequently transported in the Adriatic Sea. The SAIs also believe that the environmental risk associated with the occurrence of ser ious maritime accidents requires cross-bordercooperationfor emergency management, to be implemented through the adoption of a common emergency response plan for all the States bordering the Adriatic Sea and the organisation of joint exercise programs. Withaviewtoenhance thecooperation for theprotection of the Adriatic Sea – as a common natural heritage among Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia – the SAIs hope for the establishment of a permanent Committee or an expert cooperation platform for the exchange of information and experiences, dissemination and transfer of good practices as well as for the development of common environmental projects focused on prevention and management response to marine pollution. The participants of the Trieste meeting, which was, alongside the Heads of the SAIs, also attended by audit staff engaged in national performance audits, agreed on the possibilities to continue the cooperation with a view to follow up the implementation of recommendations given in the parallel performance audit reports. They also stressed out the benefits of coordinated audits expressing readiness to continue joint cooperation in the future. CONFERENCE OF THE HEADS OF THE SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS FROM ALBANIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, CROATIA, ITALY, MONTENEGRO AND SLOVENIA ON “MANAGING INTERVENTIONS IN CASE OF SUDDEN POLLUTION IN THE ADRIATIC SEA” Trieste, 23rd September 2021 The Compendium can be reached at https://bit.ly/3ii2bhf.
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