The roundtable was attended by MPs, the service of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, the service of the other National Assembly committees tasked with reviewing the reports of the State Audit Institution, as well as representatives of the State Audit Institution (SAI).
In her opening address, Eleni Kanellopoulou, scientific associate at the Hellenic Parliament’s Scientific Council and leader of Twinning project component 4, spoke of the legally established duties and relationship between the National Assembly and the State Audit Institution. She stressed that one of the Parliament’s key roles is to control public spending. In view of the complexities of managing public finances, Kanellopoulou pointed out the important role of the State Audit Institution who submits an annual report on audits completed to the relevant Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending. The Committee then formulates a conclusion proposal on the reviewed report and submits it to the National Assembly for discussion and ruling.
The Chairman of the Hellenic Parliament’s Committee on the Financial Statement and the General Balance Sheet and the Implementation of the State Budget Konstantinos Markopoulos and the Secretary of the Hellenic Parliament’s Committee on the Economic Affairs Timotheos Tsiropoulos presented the Hellenic Parliament’s practice and experience stemming from its cooperation with the Supreme Court of Audits. Advisor at the Belgian Parliament Roeland Jansoone shared recommendations for the improvement of cooperation between the National Assembly and the State Audit Institution through a comparative review of the existing models found in certain European parliaments.
Presenting the work of the State Audit Institution, the President of the SAI Council Radoslav Sretenovic stressed that the independent institution enjoys excellent cooperation with the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending.