Marian Lupu, President of the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CoARM) had a meeting with Alastair Swarbrick, Principal Advisor for policies in the field of public finance and audit within SIGMA, the joint initiative of the European Commission and the OECD.
The purpose of the event, held today, May 19, was to discuss the progress made by the Court of Accounts in the context of the implementation of the recommendations of the international peer review evaluation, carried out during 2020-2022 under the auspices of SIGMA, as well as the development priorities of the institution on short and medium term.
The President of the CoARM informed about the proactive approach of the institution in the context of promoting the initiatives to change the national legislation, in the context of ensuring the financial, functional and organizational independence of the supreme audit institution. Also, the CoARM’s representatives communicated about the progress made in terms of the optimization and reorganization of the institution, the implementation of international standards in terms of quality assurance on all dimensions of activity, as well as about the adjustments of the general internal regulatory and audit framework.
The representative of SIGMA ensured the support of the actions initiated by the institution and launched discussions on the potential support from the EC and OECD initiative of the promotion at national and international level of the amendments and adjustments necessary to obtain the multilateral independence of the institution.
The participants also exchanged opinions on the actions proposed by the CoARM for Chapter 32 "Financial Control", Section II "External Audit", in the context of the elaboration of the National Plan of Actions regarding the achievement of the criteria for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union and regarding the implementation of the Moldova - EU Association Agreement for 2023 - 2027, related to the area of responsibility of Working Group 32. The CoARM proposed a series of actions, aimed at contributing to the fulfillment of the requirements of the European Commission and the recommendations of the international peer review, with a primary focus on ensuring the independence of the CoARM in all aspects: functional, financial and organizational. These proposals received the positive opinion of the SIGMA representative.
We mention that the expert's visit to the Court of Accounts was undertaken in the context of the mission to assess the country's situation regarding public administration compared to the SIGMA Public Administration Principles, the supreme audit institution being targeted in the context of Principle 32 "External Audit".