On 16 March 2023, more than 80 representatives of members of the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA) and EUROSAI from all over Europe met on-line to discuss collaboration mechanisms between SAIs and internal auditors.

The joint EUROSAI-ECIIA event was organized to present the results of a survey of SAIs and internal auditor on cooperation and communication practices. The survey was conducted in the summer of 2022 and generated a high response rate - the survey for SAIs was completed by 28 SAIs and the European Court of Auditors and the survey for internal auditors had 130 participants in 24 countries responding with their views.

Amongst the topics addressed in the webinar:

• results/first conclusions obtained from EUROSAI and ECIIA surveys;
• different approaches/forms of cooperation from SAIs and internal auditors perspective;
• different collaborative mechanisms developed/used by SAIs and internal auditors in cooperating with internal auditors;
• mutual benefits from cooperation and communication.

The webinar was not only informative, but also interactive encouraging participants to share views on effectiveness of cooperation and cooperation both from external and internal auditor perspective through audience interaction tools. In reply to the interactive question do internal audit departments cooperate with SAI and vice versa, 63% of internal audits and 70% of SAIs indicated that they have such cooperation. Meanwhile on the promotion of collaboration between external and internal auditors, 67% of respondents believe the most effective tool is information sharing followed by regular meetings and professional exchange – 48%.

In terms of next steps, based on the results of the questionnaire, a common document on existing cooperation between internal and external auditors will be prepared, including the role of internal auditors in providing assurance to audited entities. The State Audit Office of Latvia together with ECIIA will organize WORKING TOGETHER FORUM for the members of EUROSAI and ECIIA on 6 October 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.

The webinar from the EUROSAI side was hosted by the State Audit Office of Latvia, as the EUROSAI Governing Board Member and holder of the portfolio on relations with non-SAI stakeholders, which is continuing cooperation with ECIIA with the aim to promote common roles and improve the communication between internal and external auditors on the EUROSAI level.

The scope of the study was about SAIs’ working experience with internal auditors covering issues such as the assessment of existing cooperation, the cooperation framework, modes of cooperation, as well as benefits and risks. The analysis was carried out by gathering opinions from the existing experience of cooperation and communication received from 28 supreme audit institutions in Europe (Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom) and the European Court of Auditors.

Speakers included Ms. Silvija Nora Kalniņš, Head of Strategy and Development of the State Audit Office of Latvia and Ms. Soledad Llamas Tutor, Internal Audit Director at Canal de Isabel II, EUROSAI-ECIIA Committee Chair. The event was moderated by Mr. Melvyn Neate, ECIIA Public Sector Committee Chair.

The link to the video recording of webinar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xenMUtulpFE