The new Governing Board, consisting of eight members, was elected at the Congress. It will be headed by the Turkish Court of Accounts. The Supreme Audit Office of Poland was appointed Vice-President of EUROSAI.
EUROSAI supports international parallel audits (for instance NIK coordinates the air quality audit in Europe, conducted by 15 SAIs), unifies the audit methodology of various institutions, coordinates cooperation with international institutions and conducts trainings for less developed SAIs.
”I am very glad that heads of Supreme Audit Institutions decided to entrust me and the Supreme Audit Office of Poland with this function. EUROSAI as an organisation that may initiate audits of particular areas and influence their subject matter (as well as participants or deadline for their implementation), is of great meaning and importance. We are currently conducting the air quality audit in Europe, so we will check which fuel quality standards and technical requirements for heating devices were implemented in several European countries, and how they contributed to the reduced pollution. Each year almost 50 thousand Poles die prematurely, because they live in a polluted environment. We have access to credible data concerning European states in which this issue was solved. Basing on this information we may also prepare solutions for Poland. If we are be able to plan more audits and invite more states to participate in audits of the European funds, Poland will also benefit. Should such audits result in requests addressed at European institutions, like those prepared after the Bug river audit carried out in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine - for special funds to be ascribed to the wastewater treatment in Lviv, we will be able to solve issues by means of international cooperation. Trainings organised by EUROSAI for Supreme Audit Institutions of the states associated with the European Union will contribute to a more effective use of the EU funds in the future, which will further enable to avoid wasting resources. The function of the EUROSAI Vice-President is not only prestigious, but also constitutes a very important tool of real influence, promotion and presentation of the Polish point of view with regard to auditing” - said Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, NIK President.
The Congress is also a place for taking long-term key planning decisions. At the X Congress the Strategic Plan for 2017-2023 was adopted, which regulates the works of the Organisation for the next six years. The Plan sets out the mission, vision and values, that underlie the activity of EUROSAI in this strategic period. It includes a description of two new strategic objectives as well. The document also sets out guiding principles and planned enhancement of the EUROSAI functioning.
While participating in the works of the EUROSAI Governing Board in 2017-2023, NIK will be able to help, basing on its experience, other institutions to prepare solutions to improve the state auditing. The Supreme Audit Office of Poland has been active on the international scene for years. NIK has conducted the highest number of cooperative audits in EUROSAI. NIK completed almost 60 such projects.
NIK systematically supports the development of other SAIs, also those of the EU associated countries. The Office participated in peer reviews of the Estonian, Latvian, Slovakian and Hungarian SAIs. Within the twinning project for the State Audit Office of Georgia, conducted at request of the European Commission, NIK experts helped the Georgian auditors to strengthen the financial audit, compliance audit and the reporting process. Moreover, a twinning project for the State Supreme Audit of Albania is currently being implemented. The project is aimed to strengthen the state audit in the country. Soon NIK will also launch another such project - in Azerbaijan. NIK has closely cooperated with the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine for several years - among others by means of trainings concerning the audit of the EU funds and the public finances. NIK experts also participated in the drafting of legal acts in Ukraine.
NIK is the external auditor of international institutions such as the Council of Europe and the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN.
