When reviewing audit reports it is important that high level of unity between the different political parties exists, to be objective and it is irrelevant who is the holder of executive power or to which political party belongs, whether ruling or opposition parties, the approach in the management of audit reports should be uniform, objective, transparent with a high level of expertise in reading, understanding and deciding on audit reports by MPs, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi said Thursday.
Addressing the promotional online event on the EU-funded IPA 2018 Twinning project “Improvement of external audit and Parliamentary oversight,” Xhaferi said that with the EU support of the EU, two study trips of MPs were realized in order to exchange experiences on what reform steps should be taken by the Parliament, especially legal and institutional, in order to establish a sustainable system of cooperation with the State Audit Office (SAO) in terms of oversight of spending public money and greater accountability of bodies and institutions in the public sector.
“Finances and Budget Committee is the most adequate body for reviewing the reports, but the establishment of a subcommittee within the committee is also being considered. Amendments to the Law should be made which would introduce a legal obligation to review the audit reports because at the moment they are submitted as information to the Parliament. For that purpose, in the strategic plan of the Parliament for 2021-2023 period, it is planned to incorporate a mechanism for submitting the final audit reports by topics, introducing the MPs to them and reviewing the final audit reports in the Parliament,” Xhaferi said.
Within this twinning project, the first step is the preparation of a memorandum of cooperation between the Parliament and the State Audit Office, which, he said, he hopes can be signed by the end of August because the draft memorandum is ready and will be presented to the Parliament.
EU Ambassador to North Macedonia David Geer said that an efficient public finance system is a prerequisite for the development of a country, reduces the rate of corruption and builds public confidence in how finances are used.
He expects this project to be a useful and important tool for sharing good practices, suggestions and ideas based on the best models available in the EU and will make a significant contribution to audit processes, improving external audits and parliamentary oversight.
“Reforms in public finance management is one of the pillars of EU accession process, and therefore it is very important to start these reforms for EU integration which are in the interest, above all for economic development and in the interest of all. EU welcomes the public financial management reforms including the improving of external audit. In recent years, the EU has provided around EUR 35 million to the North Macedonia in support public financial management reforms. This project is another proof that the EU stands by North Macedonia in implementing reforms now and in the future as ever,” Ambassador Geer said.
The Auditor General of the State Audit Office of the Republic of North Macedonia, Maksim Acevski, said that the audit institutions can fulfill their task objectively and efficiently only if they are independent of the audited entities and if they are protected from external influences.
“The State Audit Office provides support to the Parliament in fulfilling its competencies by identifying and presenting appropriate conduct in the use of public funds, possible cases of corruption and abuse of office. The successful implementation of this twinning project will help improve the efficiency and impact of external audit in the country by further aligning the legal framework, developing the methodology, strengthening the capacity of the SAO to conduct external audits and increase parliamentary oversight of public funds and improving cooperation between the SAO and the Parliament,” Acevski said.
The EU-funded IPA 2018 Twinning project “Improvement of external audit and Parliamentary oversight” is implemented by the State Audit Office (SAO) of the Republic of North Macedonia, in co-operation with Member States twinning partners, the State Audit Office of the Republic of Croatia and the National Audit Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.
In addition, the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia is also an important partner in project’s implementation.
The overall objective of this project is to improve the efficiency and impact of the external audit in the country and to improve the co-operation between SAO and the Parliament.
Throughout the project activities, trainings will be organized for more than 90 participants, number of round tables and workshops conducted. In join work with Member States experts, SAO auditors will conduct 15 pilot audits in 7 audit areas.
Moreover, 45 SAO auditors will participate in internships in EU Member States and 6 study trips to EU partner institutions will be organized.
More than 40 short term experts will be involved – Croatian, Bulgarian, Estonian, German.
The project started on 1 February 2021 with a duration of 21 months and a project budget is EUR 1,5 million.
