Regional cooperation with supreme audit institutions in EU candidate countries
We cooperate with supreme audit institutions in countries that are part of the EU enlargement process; that is, candidate countries and potential candidate countries. Currently, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are part of the cooperation. We help their supreme audit institutions to develop their auditing and contribute to stronger networks and knowledge exchange.
Focus areas
Developing in order to make progress towards EU membership
An important element of our cooperation is the countries’ efforts to come closer to EU membership. By developing together in auditing and learning from each other, they can build relationships for continued cooperation and development, both during the project and after it has been completed.
We strengthen auditing
We lead the efforts to develop the supreme audit institutions’ capabilities for conducting audits. Our work also contributes to cooperation and contacts between supreme audit institutions in countries within the project and with EU Member States.
We currently support a basic training programme for junior performance auditors. This training programme is conducted digitally and with on-site opportunities for practical training. In parallel with this one-year training programme, all participants are involved in an audit at their audit authority. They must publish their audit report by the final training session and when they pass the final exam they receive a course certificate.
Over the course of the year, we are planning an activity related to financial auditing with a focus on issues and challenges in auditing defence. We will discuss issues such as valuations, control inventories and confidentiality aspects.
Writing brief and straightforward useful reports
We train them in how to write reports that are clear, well-structured and easy to read. We also cooperate on how they can assure the quality of the content and language of the audit.
We are working to find ways to identify who uses the audit reports and whether the reports are useful. For example, we have invited Swedish parliamentarians to exchange experiences with parliamentarians in the countries within this cooperation. We also create forums for dialogue on issues related to impact and follow-up of audit reports.
Outcomes
Our cooperation with supreme audit institutions has led to several improvements, such as
- The participants have gained heightened knowledge in risk analysis and methodology development in financial auditing.
- The reports maintain a higher quality than before and the participants have gained more knowledge on how to write concise and straightforward reports.
- Several supreme audit institutions in the project have gained greater knowledge of quality assurance and quality control. Kosovo has introduced quality control as part of its audit process, which has inspired more countries to develop their own quality controls.
- Cooperation between the countries has been strengthened and new networks have been created. The networks serve as a forum for exchanging knowledge and discussing common challenges that persist, to make progress towards EU membership.
- Swedish parliamentarians have held talks with parliamentarians in the candidate countries to discuss the role and responsibilities of parliament, as well as practical issues regarding receiving and handling audit reports.
Circumstances and challenges
The supreme audit institutions in this cooperation face different challenges, such as
- The authorities have varying degrees of independence and different mandates.
- The authorities are at different levels of development.
- Employees and managers have varying experience and skills.