The general public must be informed of national and EU auditors’ work and their findings, and recommendations should be accessible and understandable by as many people as possible, the head of the French national audit office has said while attending a conference in Luxembourg to mark the 40th anniversary of the European Court of Auditors
Didier Migaud, the first president of the French court of auditors, said: ‘The constitution entrusts us with the responsibility to contribute, through our work, to informing citizens of the quality and efficiency of public governance and policies.
‘That is why we promote citizens’ awareness and develop interaction with civil society through innovative and educational communication formats, such as promotional videos and social media networks.’
Klaus-Heiner Lehne, the president of the European Court of Auditors, said: ‘Citizens’ trust in public finances can only be strengthened if they see that every euro spent at EU level brings clear added value. It is clear that communicating effectively will have to play a key role in that process.’
Speaking at the same event, Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, president of the supreme audit office of Poland urged audit institutions to involve the public more at the planning stage of their audits, in order to ensure they addressed the major causes of social concern and so built up trust in public institutions.
‘Only by auditing areas and activities which are important to citizens can we convince public opinion that we are not just part of the bureaucratic machine, but that we act to the benefit of society. That is why each year in Poland we audit such issues as how long citizens need to wait for medical appointments and how the state counteracts smog,’ he said.
The EU auditors meeting also warned that the trend towards e-government based on information technology and information management platforms to provide public services, may undermine governance accountability unless action is taken.
Alar Karis, the auditor general of Estonia, said: ‘Greater moves towards e-government should bring lawmakers and citizens closer together, but they also carry accountability risks which differ from those with which auditors are familiar. Public agencies as we know them may disappear, or could be gradually augmented with machine based, automated decision making, so that the question of who is responsible becomes very difficult to answer.
‘In this environment, we will need IT auditors or hybrid auditors to perform relevant and high-impact audits.’
Report by Pat Sweet
