For many years, the NIK has been actively participating in initiatives undertaken in the international arena, and the year 2011 was also very busy. The NIK finished its three-year long Presidency of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions - EUROSAI, and its main accomplishment was the EUROSAI Strategic Plan - the first strategic document in the history of the organisation. More information on the NIK’s international cooperation over the last year is presented by Aleksandra Kukuła, Head of the NIK International Relations Unit.
International Cooperation
The NIK started chairing EUROSAI in 2008, and 2011 - the last year of the Presidency, was particularly busy. On the initiative of the NIK, the first strategic plan was developed for EUROSAI. Another accomplishment was a cooperative audit on professional activation of persons with disabilities, in which over a dozen European Supreme Audit Institutions participated. The NIK was the coordinator of that audit.
The NIK also organised the seminar dedicated to SAIs’ communication with the public opinion via the media. The seminar, held in Warsaw in the NIK Headquarters, gathered representatives of media units from about 20 European SAIs. They debated on how communication between SAIs, the media and the public opinion could be improved.
At the VIII EUROSAI Congress held at the end of May and at the beginning of June 2011 in Lisbon, the NIK handed over the EUROSAI Presidency to the Court of Audit of Portugal.
The NIK’s activities over 2011 were not restricted to the European region. The NIK also participated in initiatives undertaken in a wider international forum. For over a year, the NIK has been chairing the Subcommittee on Internal Control Standards, which is a body operating within INTOSAI - an international organisation that gathers Supreme Audit Institutions from all parts of the world. The Subcommittee is tasked with developing and promoting standards, guidelines and good practices in the field of internal control in the public sector.
Last year, the NIK also took a decision to be peer reviewed. A peer review exercise will be conducted by experts from Austria, Denmark, Lithuania and the Netherlands, and its results will be announced at the end of 2012.
