EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION The Handbook on Supreme Audit Institutions in the EU and its Member States 2019 EDITION PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2019 EDITION TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE . 3 SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS IN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES — AN OVERVIEW ..........................4 FACTSHEETS.................................................................22 EUROPEAN UNION EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS ............................23 AUSTRIA RECHNUNGSHOF ......................................................31 BELGIUM REKENHOF / COUR DES COMPTES / RECHNUNGSHOF ..................39 BULGARIA СМЕТНА ПАЛАТА НА РЕПУБЛИКА БЪЛГАРИЯ.........................46 CROATIA DRŽAVNI URED ZA REVIZIJU............................................54 CYPRUS EΛΕΓΚΤΙΚΗ ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΙΑΚΗΣ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ..................60 CZECH REPUBLIC NEJVYŠŠÍ KONTROLNÍ ÚŘAD ...................................66 DENMARK RIGSREVISIONEN......................................................74 ESTONIA RIIGIKONTROLL ........................................................81 FINLAND VALTIONTALOUDEN TARKASTUSVIRASTO...............................87 FRANCE COUR DES COMPTES ....................................................94 GERMANY BUNDESRECHNUNGSHOF............................................101 GREECE ΕΛΕΓΚΤΙΚΟ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ ..................................................107 HUNGARY ÁLLAMI SZÁMVEVŐSZÉK.............................................114 IRELAND OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL...............121 ITALY CORTE DEI CONTI .........................................................127 LATVIA VALSTS KONTROLE ......................................................134 LITHUANIA VALSTYBĖS KONTROLĖ ..............................................141 LUXEMBOURG COUR DES COMPTES.............................................148 MALTA NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE................................................154 NETHERLANDS ALGEMENE REKENKAMER .......................................161 POLAND NAJWYŻSZA IZBA KONTROLI . 167 PORTUGAL TRIBUNAL DE CONTAS ..............................................175 ROMANIA CURTEA DE CONTURI A ROMÂNIEI....................................182 SLOVAKIA NAJVYŠŠÍ KONTROLNÝ ÚRAD SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY ...............189 SLOVENIA RAČUNSKO SODIŠČE REPUBLIKE SLOVENIJE..........................195 SPAIN TRIBUNAL DE CUENTAS ..................................................202 SWEDEN RIKSREVISIONEN ......................................................209 UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE ....................................216 3 PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION PREFACE This first edition of Public Audit in the European Union provides information on the work and role of supreme audit institutions across all EU Member States and at Union level, illustrating their contribution to the effective functioning of our democracies. With this handbook, we aim to provide an overview of the mandate, status, organisation, work and output of the 29 supreme audit institutions of the EU and its Member States and illustrate the differences and similarities between them. Other public audit bodies set up in some Member States, such as regional or provincial ones, are not included in this publication. We prepared this publication bearing in mind the assignment that was given to us, as the European Court of Auditors, in Article 287(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), namely to cooperate with the supreme audit institutions of the EU Member States “in a spirit of trust while maintaining our independence”. The information was collected in close cooperation with the various audit institutions, and the European Court of Auditors is grateful to them and their staff for their support. We hope that this handbook attracts the interest of auditors, policymakers and legislators across the EU and beyond. PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS IN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES AN OVERVIEW 5 PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION INTRODUCTION Public scrutiny is an integral part of democratic systems. All 28 countries that now form the European Union (EU) have put in place arrangements to ensure that public expenditure is accountable, transparent and robustly supervised. This is where supreme audit institutions (SAIs), as external public auditors, come into play. SAIs independently investigate the efficient, effective and economic use of public resources as well as the compliance of public spending and revenue collection with the applicable rules. They support parliamentary control of governments with their fact-based, objective and impartial audit reports, and thereby help to improve policies, programmes, public administration and the management of their state’s finances. This helps to build citizens’ trust in our societies’ checks and balances and further develop democracies that function properly. Besides promoting and developing accountability and transparency in government, EU SAIs also play an active role in supporting the capacity building of public audit bodies in third countries. Many of the 29 SAIs in the EU and its Member States, covered in this repository, can boast a rich heritage (sometimes dating back several hundreds of years), while others were only recently established in their current form. The structure, remit and powers of most SAIs have evolved over time, sometimes as a result of political changes or the reform of public administration. The existence of an independent SAI is a condition for joining the EU. 6 PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES The EU has been established in 1993 by the Maastricht Treaty. Its precursors – the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) – date back to the 1950s. Since 1993, 16 countries acceded to the Union (in 1995, 2004, 2007 and 2013). Currently, the EU comprises 28 Member States. MEMBER STATES IN 1993 Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom Member states 1995 2004 2007 2013 1995 ENLARGEMENT Austria, Finland, Sweden in 1993 enlargement enlargement enlargement enlargement Member states 1995 2004 ENLARGEMENT2004 2007Cyprus, Czech Republic,2013 Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, in 1993 enlargement enlargement enlargementMalta, Poland, Slovakia,enlargement Slovenia Member states 1995 2004 2007 2013 in 1993 enlargement enlargement2007 ENLARGEMENTenlargement enlargementBulgaria, Romania Member states 1995 2004 2007 2013 ENLARGEMENT2013 Croatia in 1993 enlargement enlargement enlargement enlargement Member states 1995 2004 2007 2013 in 1993 enlargement enlargement enlargement enlargement SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS IN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES – AN OVERVIEW 7 TYPES OF SAIs AND SAI GOVERNANCE There are different ways of classifying SAIs. Traditionally, they are grouped into bodies with organisational structures that are rooted in the French/Latin, Anglo-Saxon, or Germanic tradition. Nowadays, however, the distinction is mainly made between bodies with or without jurisdictional power. Another distinction can be made between monocratic SAIs that are headed by a single person (President, Auditor General, or Comptroller and Auditor General) and SAIs that are governed by a collegiate body (e.g. a board, college, senate or plenum). Within this broad range, further distinctions could be made, for example based on SAIs’ power to also perform audits on the lower levels of government, or on the relationship between the SAI and its national parliament. SAI GOVERNANCE Governing body/ Number Tenure (years) Head of SAI of people in governing body AUSTRIA President 1 12 (non-renewable) Rechnungshof BELGIUM General Assembly 12 6 (renewable) Rekenhof Cour des comptes Rechnungshof BULGARIA President and 3 President: 7 (non-renewable) Сметна палата на two Vice-Presidents Vice-Presidents: 7 (renewable) Република България CROATIA Auditor General 1 8 (renewable) Državni ured za reviziju CYPRUS Auditor General 1 Unlimited until statutory Eλεγκτική Υπηρεσία retirement age της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας CZECH REPUBLIC Board 17 President & Vice-President: Nejvyšší kontrolní úřad 9 (renewable) Members: unlimited until statutory retirement age DENMARK Auditor General 1 6 (renewable once for a four-year Rigsrevisionen period) ESTONIA Auditor General 1 5 (renewable) Riigikontroll FINLAND Auditor General 1 6 (renewable) Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto > 8 PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION Governing body/ Number Tenure (years) Head of SAI of people in governing body FRANCE First President 7 Unlimited until statutory Cour des comptes and 6 Presidents retirement age of chambers GERMANY President, Senate (Board) 16 President: 12 (non-renewable) Bundesrechnungshof Directors: unlimited until statutory retirement age GREECE Plenum 42 President: 4 (non-renewable) Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο Members and Judges: unlimited until statutory retirement age. HUNGARY President 1 12 (renewable) Állami Számvevőszék IRELAND Comptroller and Auditor 1 Unlimited until statutory Office of the General retirement age Comptroller and Auditor General ITALY President 1 Unlimited until statutory Corte dei conti retirement age LATVIA Council, Auditor General 7 4 (renewable for maximum Latvijas Republikas two consecutive terms) Valsts kontrole LITHUANIA Auditor General 1 5 (renewable once) Valstybės Kontrolė LUXEMBOURG President, Vice-President 5 6 (renewable) Cour des comptes and three counsellors MALTA Auditor