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During the conference organized by the NTA on: "Internal Audit in the Regions and their Development Perspective through the Recovery Resilience Facility", professionals from the public and private sector had the opportunity to be informed about the new legislative framework of Internal Audit, as defined by Law no. 4795/2021, recently adopted by the Greek Parliament, as well as the usefulness of Internal Audit and related Units in the Regions’ operation.
The Secretary General of Interior and Organization of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Michael I. Stavrianoudakis, addressing the conference, stressed that: "The new law on Internal Audit aims at limiting exposure to risks for the 1st and 2nd Level of Local Authorities. The Internal Audit operation is preventive in nature and adds value to the organization because it improves the effectiveness and efficiency of their business operations, the reliability of their reports and their compliance with laws. With the implementation of the Internal Audit System, an organized grid of functions and processes are put in place for the benefit of both the organization and the entire local community and citizens".
Mr. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, after thanking the NTA’s Governor on behalf of all the Regions for their cooperation, noted that “We have managed not only to launch a number of issues that were pending in the past but also to address significant issues that concern us. The new institutional framework for Internal Audit sets the rules within a philosophy and logic of increasing the efficiency of the organization. As Regions, we want Internal Audit, we want transparency and we want efficiency”. Mr. Tzitzikostas spoke about the upgrading of the Regions’ role in country’s governance, saying that “We want a clear scope for the internal audits of the Regions and it is very important that they report to the Head, that rules are established and that there will be an Integrity Advisor. All these new institutions that are now being introduced in the public sector will help and strengthen what we want to achieve: transparency everywhere”.
Mr. Konstantinos Skandalidis, former Minister of the Interior and MP with the KINAL party, noted that “What the country needs, if it wants to change its growth and productive model, to become competitive and extroverted, to make infrastructure projects that can really be shared throughout the region and to have development resources, the correlation and balance between the institutions that constitute democracy, i.e. the model of the national constitution of democracy itself, must change". Mr Skandalidis went on to say: “The basic objective should be to move towards a Greece where the Regions have a name, each with its own identity, using its comparative advantages, the sources and means of funding it has. It should make use of its public assets, have practices of cooperation with public and private social sector bodies and, above all, we should bring new and innovative development resources to each of them in an integrated way. This will enable them to be competitive in the Europe of the Regions”.
Mr George Hatzimarkos, Governor of the Region of South Aegean, noted that “The audit of public administration by the NTA and other audit authorities is a structural and necessary element of a functioning democracy. What we should all focus on is that this Internal Audit in the Regions should not conflict with their development perspective and is carried out and completed within a timeframe that provides answers to the elected officials being audited at a critical time, both politically and for them and for society”. Mr. Hatzimarkos stressed: “We have ahead of us the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which requires extremely strict deadlines, and we must all ensure a triple dimension in the concept of speed: Speed in absorption, Speed in effectiveness, Speed in the completion of audits”.
Mr Vassilis Nikitas, representative of the European Commission, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), noted that “Greece's Recovery and Resilience Plan, approved by the Council in July, has a total budget of €30.5 billion, of which €17.8 billion is for grants. In particular, Greece's plan will facilitate the decarbonisation of the economy, the digitalisation of the public and private sectors, and will improve the business environment, the tax and judicial systems, labour policies, the skills of the workforce and health care". Mr Vassilis Nikitas continued “The Greek plan contains concrete measures to improve the efficiency of public administration, including the strengthening of the national anti-corruption framework. This includes, for example, the development of an internal audit system at all levels of the public administration".
Mr. Konstantinos Kostopoulos, Vice-President of the Hellenic Court of Audit, referring to the recent law 4795/2021 (A’ 62), in particular its first part (Articles 1-22), said that “A system of internal audit is being established in the public sector and therefore in the 13 Regions of the country. It is part of the institutional effort made over the last five years to apply to the Greek legal system the reform that has been implemented since the beginning of the 2000s in the financial management of the European Union, its Member States and most countries of the global community”. Mr. Kostopoulos continued “Already from 2020, for reasons of transparency, implementation of best practices and for educational reasons (with the main beneficiaries being the audited entities) with a first regulatory decision of the Plenary of the Court of Auditors (Government Gazette B 2424/18.6.2020) and the accompanying extensive document on "Defining the Internal Control System within the Court of Audit”, the perception of the Supreme Financial Court regarding the content of internal control and the bodies for its exercise was reflected, while a second regulatory decision of the Plenary (Government Gazette B 4938/9.11.2020) established the “Procedure for the Audit by the Court of Audit of the existence, operation and effectiveness of an Internal Audit System in the entities under its audit jurisdiction”.
Mr. Panagiotis Liargovas, Chairman of the Board of Directors & Scientific Associate of the Centre of Planning & Economic Research (KEPE), spoke about the importance of strengthening the Regions, so that each one, with the appropriate means, can deal with the difficulties and enhance its advantages. He also spoke about the NTA’s and the Hellenic Court of Audit’s contribution, which, through the Law on Internal Audit, provide the tool that allows us to move towards the Europe of the Regions with certainty and confidence. Referring to the role of institutions, he stressed that “Institutions are the difference between a developed country and a less developed one. We need strong formal institutions in our country. The NTA is an example of success and a response to the institutional deficit of the country”. Mr. Liargovas also referred to the macroeconomic forecasts of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the role of KEPE (as the National Productivity Board) in validating these projections (rational, feasible, measurable).
During the discussion, an electronic vote was conducted through the online application "Mentimeter" with the results fueling an interesting exchange of views among the speakers. The discussion was moderated by Alexandra Chatzigeorgiou, journalist at ANT1 and ATHENS – MACEDONIAN NEWS AGENCY.