SAI Latvia Hosts EUROSAI Working Group on Municipality Audit Seminar and Annual Meeting in Rīga
This week, from 16 to 17 September, Rīga will host the Seminar and Annual Meeting of the EUROSAI Working Group on Municipality Audit (WGMA), organized by the State Audit Office of Latvia. The event will bring together more than 50 auditors from 22 European countries. It is intended as a platform for exchanging experiences among supreme audit institutions, allowing participants to share insights and best practices gained during audit processes.
“State Audit Office of Latvia is honoured to host the EUROSAI WGMA meeting in Rīga. Autumn is an excellent time to gather the fruits of our labour – and in the meeting we will discuss the success of our accomplishments, such as the compendium on schools and the newsletter with 19 articles from 13 SAIs, and others. We will also make future plans in launching the WGMA award for municipality auditing and in forging partnerships with internal auditors. Alongside the annual meeting, an important seminar on regional development will take place. We are pleased that the high-level participants from Latvia will launch our meeting to share their perspectives on key challenges and opportunities in regional development.” – Oskars Erdmanis, EUROSAI Working Group on Municipality Audit Chair and State Audit Office Council Member.
On the first day, 16 September, the Seminar will focus on the role and impact of supreme audit institutions in the implementation and development of regional policy. The seminar will consist of three sessions.
The first session will feature Latvia’s representatives presenting the main challenges in developing and implementing regional policy in Latvia, along with proposals on how supreme audit institutions can support regional development through their audit work. The participants will include the Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development of Latvia, the Chairmen of the Riga and Liepāja City Councils, as well as the professor at University of Latvia and the Chairman of the think tank LaSER.
Sessions two and three will feature representatives from 12 supreme audit institutions – Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia – sharing their experiences in regional policy planning and development, funding planning and accessibility, and creating synergies between support programs.
On 17 September, members of the working group will meet in their Annual Meeting to decide on the implementation of its 2025 work plan and planned activities for 2026.
Representatives from the supreme audit institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Kosovo*, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Noth Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine have confirmed their participation.
Following the Seminar and Annual Meeting, WGMA will publish two key materials for the international audit community.
The WGMA Newsletter No. 8 will provide an overview of WGMA activities, including recent audit results and member experiences, while the Audit Compendium on Pre-school and General Education in Municipalities will summarize findings from 2020 – 2024 audits conducted by member SAIs.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
