One of the main objectives of the NIK’s Presidency of EUROSAI is to elaborate a new strategic plan. Why a new strategy is so important to EUROSAI?
- It is much more than a new strategic plan. In fact, it is the first strategic plan of EUROSAI. EUROSAI was established twenty years ago, in 1991. Since then, both the environment around and EUROSAI itself have changed a lot. Some general objectives were set out in the Statutes adopted 20 years ago, but is not a sufficient tool for managing the Organisation any longer. We need more precise planning, short-term and long-term alike.
It is a great challenge to develop a new strategic plan for the organisation that gathers 50 Supreme Audit Institutions from all parts of Europe, isn’t it?
- Yes, it is a great challenge indeed, as the New Strategic plan has to reflect the expectations of EUROSAI members. And these vary a lot. Sometimes they exclude one another, and sometimes they are formulated in disregard of the EUROSAI and INTOSAI reality. We must remember that not all EUROSAI members are so actively involved in the activities of the Organisation as the Polish NIK. What is more, the Strategic Plan must also relate EUROSAI activities to the implementation of the strategic goals of the global mother-organisation, namely INTOSAI, but at the same time it must take into account the uniqueness of our region. And, obviously, the plan should be realistic in the first place, so it must take into account the resources, both human and financial, which the Organisation has at its disposal. And these are rather limited.
Does the new strategy modify the Organisation’s objectives set out in the Statutes?
- The Statutes set out a long list of EUROSAI objectives. The draft Strategic Plan, since we must remember that it is still a draft document only and not a final version, organises this list from the perspective of the Organisation’s mission and vision. It defines four strategic goals for the years 2011-2017 and sets objectives for each of them. It also refers to the strategic goals of INTOSAI.
Apart from the goals and objectives, implementation activities have been also defined.
- Yes, for each objective, specific activities or projects have been set aimed at their achieving, as well as performance measures for these activities.
Is the EUROSAI structure to change once its new goals have been set?
- The general structure defined in the EUROSAI Statutes, comprising the Congress, the Governing Board and the Secretariat, will not change. But we suggest establishing four teams, as INTOSAI has done, each to be responsible for the implementation of one of the strategic goals. One of these goals is horizontal, it covers coordination activities, so the team responsible for its implementation will be tasked with coordination. In practice, this team will perform the role of ”a small governing board”, or a working structure, to be active in between subsequent Governing Board meetings that are held once a year only.
At what stage are the works on the strategic plan at the moment? What was done during the latest meeting organised in Warsaw at the beginning of September?
- The draft document has gone through the first round of consultations in the EUROSAI Governing Board. At the latest meeting, we discussed the comments voiced by the members and observers of the Governing Board and we introduced necessary changes to the draft. Recently, the draft has been circulated among all EUROSAI members for further consultations. The next step will be another round of consultations in the Governing Board and the adoption of the final draft which will be later submitted to the Congress.
It must be also stressed that, simultaneously, works are in progress on a draft document which is to set out the procedures for the functioning of the teams for the implementation of the individual strategic goals. These procedures should be clearly defined so that the teams could be established and works on the implementation of the plan could begin once the Congress has adopted the Strategic Plan.
When will the new Strategic Plan become an officially binding document?
- The plan should be adopted by the 8th EUROSAI Congress which will begin on 31 May 2011 in Lisbon. Then the plan will become an official document.
