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International relations
The SAO traditionally maintains relationships with international institutions and its fellow supreme audit institutions (SAIs).
INTOSAI
web: www.intosai.org
INTOSAI (International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions) is an independent and non-political international organization uniting SAIs from around the world, aiming to support exchange of experience in the field of public sector auditing. INTOSAI was founded in 1953 and has over 180 members.
The SAO is a member of the following working groups of the INTOSAI:
- Working Group on Environmental Auditing
contact person: michaela.rosecka (at) nku.cz - Working Group on the Fight Against Corruption and Money Laundering
contact person: martin.kolman (at) nku.cz - Professional Standards Committee
contact person: martin.kolman (at) nku.cz
EUROSAI
web: www.eurosai.org
EUROSAI (European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions) is one of the INTOSAI’s 7 regional organisations. EUROSAI aims to support professional cooperation of its members, to create a single professional audit terminology, organize training events, support information exchange, and to maintain relationships with national and international audit institutions.
The SAO is a member of the following working groups of the EUROSAI:
- Information Technology Working Group
contact person: vojtech.bidrman (at) nku.cz - Working Group on Environmental Auditing
contact person: michaela.rosecka (at) nku.cz - EUROSAI Training Committee
contact persons: zuzana.holoubkova (at) nku.cz, michaela.rosecka (at) nku.cz
European Court of Auditors (ECA)
web: www.eca.europa.eu
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is the external auditor of EU funds. Its mission is to assess, whether institutions of the EU discharge their functions well, whether EU funds are managed in accordance with given rules and the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
Mr Jan Kinšt, former Member of the Board of the SAO, was appointed as Member of the ECA for the Czech Republic after the country’s accession to the EU in May 2004.
Cooperation with the ECA dates since 1993 when the SAO was established. The ECA participated significantly on institutional and capacity building of the SAIs of the candidate countries. Aiming to prepare SAIs for accession to the EU, the ECA initiated and coordinated mutual cooperation, organized seminars, and professional trainings, including long-term in-house training at the ECA.
The Treaty establishing the European Community states that the ECA and SAIs of the Member States shall cooperate in the spirit of trust while maintaining their respective independence. Audit missions of the ECA in Member States of the EU serve as an example of such cooperation. The SAO participates as an expert and observer throughout the process of both audit preparation and realisation in the Czech Republic.
The SAO and the ECA also cooperate by enabling and promoting secondments, an institute that enables a usually time-limited work placement of auditors from SAIs (also called national experts) at international organizations. Till now, three national experts from the SAO worked at the ECA..
On multilateral level, cooperation of the SAO and the ECA is performed especially within the activities of the Contact Committee.
Contact Committee
The Contact Committee is an assembly of heads of SAIs of the EU and the ECA. It is autonomous, independent and non-political. The Contact Committee promotes and deepens exchange of professional knowledge and experience on the audit of EU funds and on other EU-related issues. In order to contribute to the improvement of EU financial management and good governance, it provides mutual support and initiates and co-ordinates common activities in the EU field, promotes contacts and exchange of information with interested parties. The Contact Committee meets once a year in one of the Member states of the EU.
Liaison officers meet twice a year in order to prepare the agenda and meetings of the Contact Committee and to coordinate its activities. The SAO’s liaison officer is Mr. Martin Kolman (martin.kolman (at) nku.cz).
Working groups are established to carry out specific tasks in main areas of cooperation.
The SAO is a member of the following working groups of the Contact Committee:
- Working Group for Structural Funds III
- VAT Working Group
- Working Group for National SAI Reports on EU Financial Management
- Working Group for Public Procurement
- Working Group for Common Auditing Standards
- Agricultural Expert Network
SIGMA
web: www.sigmaweb.org
SIGMA is a common initiative of the OECD and the EU, established to support reforms of the public sector in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Cooperation is usually given in the form of gathering and exchange of information, advisory services, training and expert analyses. The SIGMA organized a number of important seminars for SAO auditors; in 1999 the SIGMA was invited to carry out a Peer Review. Cooperation continued even after the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU, mainly in the form of consultations and help with organization of seminars.
International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN)
The IBAN is NATO’s supreme auditing body and is a part of its civil structure. IBAN performs financial and performance audits of NATO bodies and those relating to expenditure under NATO's common-funded infrastructure programme. IBAN is among others composed of representatives of audit bodies in member countries. They have an independent status and are selected by their respective countries. They are appointed by the Council of NATO and are accountable to the Council. The SAO is not represented in the IBAN; nevertheless, SAO auditors regularly attend meetings concerning discussions on the annual report on the activities of IBAN
Contact person: tereza.kouckahofferova (at) nku.cz.
EUROCONTROL - European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
web: www.eurocontrol.int
EUROCONTROL is a civil organisation that coordinates and plans air traffic in Europe. This involves working with national authorities, air navigation service providers, civil and military airspace users, airports, and other organisations.
SAO representatives have been appointed the Board of Audit of EUROCONTROL for the years 2008-2011. The main task of the Board is to certify three sets of EUROCONTROL's financial statements.
The Visegrad 4+2-Group
The Visegrad 4+2-Group is an informal, independent, and professional forum composed of the heads of SAIs of the so-called Visegrad states (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic) and the heads of the SAIs of Austria and Slovenia. The Group was established in 1991 by the original Visegrad states, inspired by the ideas of mutual cooperation and sharing of experience by the four countries on governmental level. After the accession of the countries to the EU the SAIs of Austria and Slovenia joined the group. The Group’s mission and objectives nowadays are to identify interests in external government auditing, to detect problem areas and develop approaches for their solutions, to represent common interests in the Contact Committee of the SAIs of the EU, to be a forum for the exchange of views and opinions and to assume a bridging role between the Group and the SAIs of EU candidate countries. Presidents of these six SAIs meet regularly once a year.
Bilateral and multilateral cooperation
The SAO maintains professional relationships with a large number of national SAIs.
One of the main forms of cooperation is to carry out joint audits. More information on carried out audits may be found here.
Another important form of cooperation is organisation of meetings with representatives of other SAIs in order to exchange information and experience, to deepen professional knowledge, to arrange and participate in workshops and conferences, to plan and coordinate audits etc.
