On October 16th and 17th, 2023, the city of Cagliari (Italy) will host the first meeting of the Group of Auditors (GoA) for the Interreg NEXT MED 2021-2027 programme and the annual meeting under ENI CBC MED 2014-2020 programme.

The GoA is the body in charge of supporting the Audit Authority in all its tasks related to the responsibility for performing system audits and sample audits of funded projects. For Interreg NEXT MED, the audit functions are assigned to the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Italy), within a department ('Presidenza - Ufficio dell'Autorità di Audit') which is functionally independent from the Managing Authority.

The GoA comprises one delegate for each participating country in the Programme, including Algeria*, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Türkiye*.

This meeting is part of the overall context in which the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, in its role as the Audit Authority, is working to achieve the audit objectives for the two programmes. The Audit Authority guarantees, vis-à-vis the European Commission, the proper functioning of the management and control system for ENI CBC MED and Interreg NEXT MED programmes, for which the Autonomous Region of Sardinia has been the Managing Authority since 2007.

Both programmes involve regions from both shores of Mediterranean with the aim of promoting fair, equitable, and sustainable economic, social, and territorial development across border through the funding projects which tackle shared Mediterranean challenges. Interreg NEXT MED is the largest cooperation initiative implemented on the EU's external borders, with a budget over 253 million euros for the 2021-2027 programming period.

The meeting, reserved for GoA members, will be divided into two sessions: the first related to the 2014-2020 programming period, scheduled for the afternoon of October 16th, dedicated to the closure phase of ENI CBC MED programme. The second session, set for the morning of October 17th, will focus on the new programming period, with a particular emphasis on the preparatory activities for the audit of the Interreg NEXT MED 2021-2027 programme.

In addition to the Audit Authority and GoA delegates from the participating countries, officials from the European Commission - the Joint Audit Directorate for Cohesion - and the Managing Authority of the Interreg NEXT MED 2021-2027 Program - will also participate. Additionally, interventions from international experts are planned.

These two meetings have been organized in conjunction with another important event, the seventh Annual Event for Audit Authorities of the ENI CBC 2014-2020 and Interreg NEXT 2021-2027 programmes, organized by the Technical Support to the Implementation and Management of ENI CBC Programmes (TESIM) of the European Commission. This event will take place in Cagliari on October 17th and 18th.

*Algeria and Türkiye participate in Interreg NEXT MED but have not been involved in ENI CBC Med Programme.