EUROSAI. Magazine N21 - 2015

years of fruitful cooperation 5 EUROPEAN ORGANISATION OF SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS 25 th ANNIVERSARY OF EUROSAI 51 www.eurosai.org · N.º 21 - 2015 in systems, organisations and activities that result in good governance. This requires having independent SAIs, highly technical and modern, acting under strict ethical codes, applying auditing standards and following procedures and strategies in accordance with cutting-edge international standards, and which provide effective and efficient structures. Audit entities must pursue maximum rationality in the distribution of tasks and functions, and promote accountability and quality control to ensure high levels of performance that evaluate public management from parameters of legality, efficiency, effectiveness, economy, transparency, environmental sustainability and gender equality, thereby reinforcing democracy and social progress. Accordingly, SAIs must have clearly defined missions, vision and objectives to focus and maximise their value. They must determine their strategies and assess the results of their actions, applying them to the planning and implementation of future programmes, identifying areas for improvement and optimising allocations. It is essential for SAIs to remain attentive to new realities and systematically analyse and take into account the context in which they operate, since their effectiveness will be greater the more they meet the expectations, needs and priorities of the various players involved in management. Thus, audit institutions must be open to the demands of parliaments, as legislative bodies (and therefore creators of frameworks and action policies) and as institutions of political control of governments. They must also listen to claims from citizens who are becoming more and more involved in public action and more demanding as taxpayers, seekers and recipients thereof. The system must always guarantee the independence of the SAIs, which must never be compromised by grater proximity to local players and decision-making processes. External audit institutions are to contribute technically, through their reports, to promote and give feedback to the process of creating legislation. They must also recommend measures for improving organisation and public management, thus helping to eliminate areas of risk and impunity that can lead to fertile ground for irregularities and corruption. SAIs must also provide a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the situation of public activity and create a constructive and critical spirit in society, as well as a culture of good management when demanding governments, institutions and managers, legal actions and efficient, transparent, ethical and responsible conduct. SAIs have to assess the impact of their own activity in real terms as a contribution to improving governance and the value-added they provide to society, which ultimately justifies their very existence. They have to seek transparency in their operation and the best ways to maximise their results. They must also make an effort to give more external visibility to their performance, providing a better and wider understanding of their work and contributing XXXII EUROSAI GB Meeting (Bern, 2007)