EUROSAI. Magazine N18 - 2012

> 78 < REPORTS AND STUDIES EUROPEAN ORGANISATION OF SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS www.eurosai.org No. 18 - 2012 at the scope of their auditing action in two aspects: on the one hand, to intensify control over the activity of organisations and bodies of the public sector, from the point of view both of examining the legality and compliance with the principles of economy, efficacy and efficiency in their actions and from that of the exercise of the control based on the principles of budgetary stability and financial sustainability; and, on the other hand, to extend the exercise of their auditing work to all classes of realities or businesses implying a public activity, in spite of being developed via instruments which traditionally did not come within the scope of the auditing actions of the control bodies. Moreover, we must not forget the significant role of the external control bodies in everything to do with auditing compliance with the rules of transparency and good governance, which is having an ever greater effect on the public powers as a whole. Such control bodies undertake their auditing function on a range of the economic reality, such as the public economic-financial activity, which has a high degree of complexity, and such control work is of great importance since it is directed towards checking the proper accountability of public bodies, the correct use of resources and public funds and, in general, evaluating public management as a whole. In relation to the foregoing, it can be highlighted that democratic societies are characterised by a progressive interest of citizens in knowing about and actively participating in affairs related to public management. Citizens demand not just more and better results from the public Institutions but also increasingly so a greater knowledge of their activity. The transparency and accessibility of information coming from the public sector bodies constitute strategic objectives for advanced societies. The Public Administration must be open to all citizens, informing them of their decision taking process, of the execution of public policies and of the results of their management, doing so by means of providing information that is accessible, periodical and which can be compared. The Spanish Court of Audit has been firmly in favour of transparency in public management, especially as far as the accountability of bodies forming part of the public sector is concerned. In this respect, in relation to the annual accounts of local administration bodies, a Platform for accountability by telematic means has been developed in recent years, which has meant a considerable advance in the economic-financial management of local bodies, permitting an exhaustive control to be carried out on accountability and to make the necessary checks in order to verify the integrity and coherence of those accounts. In an additional step towards greater transparency, the Court of Audit decided to make the information provided by bodies in the local public sector available to all citizens, by means of what is known as the AccountabilityWebsite or the Citizens Website ( www.rendiciondecuentas.es ) . The information made available for the public includes data on local bodies, their state of accountability and the main content of their accounts, all this organised in a way that is accessible and transparent, which facilitates the consulting of the corresponding information both on any local body and on a group of these bodies, selected according to different parameters. Equally, the strengthening of external control also has to take place via an increase in cooperation and collaboration among different Supreme Audit Institutions, within the framework of the international organisations, including aspects such as the sharing of experiences, collaboration among the Regional Groups of INTOSAI, peer reviews or the implementation of ISSAIs, among others. n We must not forget the significant role of the external control bodies in everything to do with auditing compliance with the rules of transparency and good governance. n n Democratic societies are characterised by a progressive interest of citizens in knowing about and actively participating in affairs related to public management. n n The Spanish Court of Audit has been firmly in favour of transparency in public management, especially as far as the accountability of bodies forming part of the public sector is concerned. n