The 10^th EUROSAI Congress was held in Istanbul (Turkey), from 22 to 25 May 2017, hosted by the Turkish Court of Accounts, under the leadership of its President, Mr. Seyit Ahmet Baş. The Congress, was characterized by an excellent organization and a warm atmosphere that allowed for holding administrative plenary sessions;  lively technical discussions in seminars and break-out sessions on the theme “Implementation of ISSAIs; challenges and solutions”; and informal discussions and exchange of views on the future of EUROSAI in the marketplace of ideas.

Among the discussions held and decisions taken during the plenary sessions, the following can be highlighted:

• • The EUROSAI Presidency was handed over by the SAI of the Netherlands to the SAI of Turkey, assuming Mr. Seyit Ahmet Baş the position of President of EUROSAI.

  • The EUROSAI Strategic Plan (ESP)2017-2023 was approved by the Congress, who entrusted the Governing Board with the mandate of making the necessary arrangements for its implementation. A Memorandum on Enhanced EUROSAI Structure and Governance was also presented to the Congress, who took note of the same. 

  • Voting processes were held to elect various positions, as a result of which; the SAI of the Czech Republic was chosen to host the EUROSAI Congress in the year 2020; the SAIs of Latvia and Poland were elected members of the EUROSAI Governing Board for a period of six years (2017-2023); and the SAIs of Croatia and Bulgaria were appointed auditors of EUROSAI for the period 2017-2019 (in the case of the SAI of Croatia, a renewal of position).

  • The EUROSAI Financial Statements (years 2014, 2015 and  2016) and the Budget 2018-2020 (including the annual financial contributions of EUROSAI members) were approved.

  • All EUROSAI Goal Teams presented their reports during the Congress. 

    • The overall progress report of the strategic period 2011 - 2017 revealed that a lot had been accomplished during this period, contributing to strengthen EUROSAI as a platform for knowledge sharing, debate and professional development between members. Recommendations for the drafting of the Operational Plan of the Strategic Period 2017-2023 included, among others, the following: allow for flexibility and agility within the Operational Plan; focus on the added value of initiatives for the members of EUROSAI and public sector auditing; keep alive the successful initiatives of the previous period (such as the maintenance and promotion of the databases; simplify and lighten the accountability and reporting arrangements; and set up a project group to review and revise the EUROSAI regulations.

    • The four Goal Teams of the first EUROSAI Strategic Plan (2011-2017) were dissolved.

  • The Congress endorsed the activity reports of EUROSAI Working Groups and Task Forces, extended their mandates for the period 2017-2020 and renewed their respective Chairs. Their work programmes were also approved and the need for their alignment with the EUROSAI Strategic Plan 2017-2023 was stressed.

  • The Congress dissolved the Monitoring Committee for setting up and operating the Electronic Database on Good Practices and mandated the State Audit Office of Hungary to continue the operation of the Electronic Good Practices Database on its own website, accessible from the official EUROSAI website via a direct link.

  • The activity report of the EUROSAI Secretary General (2014-2017) was approved by the Congress.

  • The Congress took note of a new initiative to foster exchange of experiences among EUROSAI members, consisting on the setting up of two different types of staff secondment programs within EUROSAI; the first one, aimed at promoting and encouraging all its members to organise staff secondments and internships among them, as a useful tool for enhancing capacity building of SAIs; and the second one, aimed at supporting the Secretariat in fulfilling its duties and responsibilities, by seconding staff from EUROSAI members to the Spanish Court of Audit. Both programmes might be partially financed from the EUROSAI Budget.

  • The Congress also acknowledged the Terms of Reference approved by the Governing Board, during its 47 meeting, for the setting up of the Editorial Board of the EUROSAI Magazine. This Board will be in charge of implementing the recommendations derived from the survey carried out in 2016 for the improvement and promotion of this publication, chaired by the EUROSAI Secretariat and its members will be selected taking into account those SAIs with specific strong points in the area of communication, graphic design departments and other skills of relevance for the EUROSAI Magazine

• Regarding the theme sessions, the two seminars held, related to emerging issues and SGDs, were complemented with ten work sessions on varied topics (transparency, ethics management or monitoring of findings). 

• On the occasion of the dissolution of the Goal Teams 1, 2, 3 and 4 - set up in 2011 for the implementation of the first ESP 2011-2017-, the Secretary General of EUROSAI awarded certificates of appreciation to current and former Chairs of the Goal Teams, in recognition of their outstanding contributions in leading the implementation of the ESP 2011-2017 over the past years.

• Also, the results of the logo and video open competitions were presented:

  • A voting was held to choose the new EUROSAI logo. Since two of the three finalist proposals were in a tie, they were presented to the Congress anonymized (for scoring purposes), so that the Congress could vote on them. The winning proposal was one designed by two representatives of the SAI of Spain. The authors of the second and third finalists belonged to the SAIs of Slovenia and Finland, respectively. 

  • The videos participating in the EUROSAI Video Competition « Ethics Matters » were presented and the SAI of Israel, author of the winning video, received the award of this competition.

• Moreover, to ensure a welcoming atmosphere to dialogue a new feature was introduced in the Congress; the Marketplace of Ideas. This space in the agenda enabled participants to embark on constructive dialogue on goals to be pursued and potential initiatives to be launched. It was created in respond to EUROSAI members’ suggestions -in the self-assessment survey- for potential additional strategic discussions and networking within the Congress. Informal discussion on Strategic Goals 1 & 2 and breakout sessions for “regional cooperation” and the SAI PMF were held during the marketplace of ideas, together with stands and information points organized by various members.

• As main outcome of the Congress, its conclusions and recommendations were adopted.

During the 48 Governing Board meeting, held on May 25, the main following decisions were taken:

• SAI of Poland was elected Second Vice-President of EUROSAI.

• Allocation of Governing Board portfolios:
  • Overall governance and culture: SAI of Turkey (Presidency)
  • Co-leader of Strategic Goal 1 “Professional cooperation”: SAI of Czech Republic, together with SAI of Germany (non-GB member co-leader)
  • Co-leader of Strategic Goal 2 “Institutional Capacity Development”: SAI of Poland, together with SAI of Sweden (non-GB member co-leader)
  • Communications: SAI of Latvia
  • Relations with non-SAI stakeholders: SAI of the Netherlands
  • Relations with other INTOSAI regional organisations: SAI of Spain (Secretariat)
  • Forward thinking and emerging issues: SAI of Finland

• Coordination team will be composed of 3 members -SAIs of Turkey (Presidency), Czech Republic (Goal 1 co-leader) and Poland (Goal 2 co-leader)- and one observer (the Secretariat).

• A Project Group chaired by the Secretariat will revise EUROSAI regulations (Statutes, Standard Procedures and Financial Rules). Another Project Group will be set up to develop the governance framework for the new structure.

• The GB approved the kind offer of the SAI of Poland of hosting the next GB meeting.