Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

The second young EUROSAI Conference, Israel 2015

Oskar Johansson riksrevisionenAnton Lindqvist the Swedish national audit office

2Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› Introduction of us› Short facts of the Swedish NAO› Introduction to the subject – mandate and blind spots in

Sweden› What's the problem? The task for the day› Discussions in smaller groups› Presentations of group discussions and conclusions

› Feel free to ask questions at any time!

Schedule for the session

3Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› Part of the parliamentary control since 2003› A wide mandate to independently audit the government

which is enshrined in the Swedish constitution

› Head office in Stockholm› About 320 employees› About 30 performance-audit reports published each year› Financial audits of about 250 agencies

The Swedish NAO

4Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› The Swedish NAO is the independent auditor of public administration at the national level

Mandate of the Swedish NAO

5Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› Why did we choose this topic?› Mandate of the Swedish NAO – focused on the central

government…› ..but the major part of the welfare services are produced

locally and regionally › This is not a specific situation for Sweden – it’s a general

trend!

Mandate of the Swedish NAO

6Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› Democracy relies (amongst other things) on accountability and transparency. SAI:s are important actors in this process!

› A general trend – nation states are reducing their influence – power is moving upwards, downwards and outwards.

› The main question is - does this development create blind spots were the SAI:s cannot conduct audits? If so, should this be considered a democratic problem?

The general picture – what's the problem?

7Blind spots of SAI:s in a changing world?

› Divide into groups!› Questions to discuss:– Do you think that the trends of globalization and regionalization is a

challenge to the capacity of the European SAI:s to conduct audits in important fields? Do you have any examples from your country?

– Do you think that there is a risk that the development at hand is creating an accountability problem that, in the long run, might weaken the democratic process?

– Do you have any suggestions on solutions that could strengthen the capacity of the SAI:s in this regard? (maybe wider mandate or better international cooperation). How do we find and audit the blind spots?

The mission of the session!