After years of preparation and several changes in dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic was finally honored to host the XI European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) Congress on April 14-15, 2021.
The Congress—held online—attracted 219 participants, including representatives of member SAIs and observers from the INTOSAI Secretariat, INTOSAI regional organizations (Chairs and Secretariats), INTOSAI Journal, INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), and European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA).
SAI Czech Republic aimed to make the Congress as interesting as possible, without fatiguing participants with another long online event. To better suit the virtual format, SAI Czech Republic—in close cooperation with the EUROSAI Secretariat and approval of all EUROSAI Governing Board members—reduced the length of the General Plenary Session from 2.5 days to 2.5 hours and honed the agenda to focus only on topics of the utmost importance.
This approach aligned with the Congress´ “3C-3I-3E” vision: Communication, Cooperation, & Comparison; Information, Innovation, & Interactivity; and Effectiveness, Efficiency, & Economy.
Per tradition, the General Plenary Session was preceded by the 53rd, and followed by the 54th, EUROSAI Governing Board Meeting. The XI EUROSAI Congress brought the following changes:
- The Presidency of EUROSAI was handed over from SAI Turkey to SAI Czech Republic.
- SAI Israel was elected as the new EUROSAI Presidency for 2024-2027, and Israeli State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman became the Vice President of EUROSAI.
- SAI Lithuania and the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office became new members of the EUROSAI Governing Board.
- SAI Kosovo became a new member of EUROSAI. (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/1999 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.)
At the end of the meeting, the new President of EUROSAI, Mr. Miloslav Kala, emphasized the values he would like to foster and the objectives he aims to achieve, with the ultimate goal of building bridges between individual EUROSAI members while also taking into account their different needs.
When it is safe to travel and congregate, SAI Czech Republic plans to organize a “Prague Post-Congress Get-Together” incorporating parts of the Congress that were omitted in the online event and that will be more meaningful in person, such as workshops and a social program. The get-together will also feature the “Marketplace,” which provides EUROSAI members with the opportunity to promote their current and future projects and inform colleagues about innovative approaches they are using in audit work.
