On 15 May 2024, the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) held a meeting with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions of NATO member countries to discuss the IBAN 2023 Annual Activity Report (AAR). The meeting also covered ways to strengthen cooperation between the Supreme Audit Institutions and IBAN, as well as other audit-specific topics such as audit methodology and the audit of international organisations.
Each spring, IBAN issues its AAR, detailing its audit work, achievement of key performance indicators, and the use of its human and financial resources from the previous year. Before sending the report to the North Atlantic Council (NAC), IBAN meets with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of NATO member countries to discuss their comments on the AAR and other audit-related topics. The SAI representatives are traditionally referred to as the Competent National Audit Bodies (CNABs), and the annual meeting is known as the CNAB meeting. The AAR, along with the comments from the CNABs, is then issued to the NAC and the Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB). Once the NAC notes and approves the AAR for public disclosure, it will be published on NATO's website.
This year, the CNAB meeting took place at NATO Headquarters on 15 May 2024. Those attending included representatives from 26 SAIs of the 32 NATO member countries, namely Albania, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In addition to discussing the IBAN 2023 AAR, the IBAN explored ways to strengthen cooperation with the SAIs. This included the potential increased use of Voluntary National Contributions, professional training missions, and possible cooperation with SAIs on audits of the NATO Security Investment Programme.
Furthermore, three presentations elaborated on the following topics:
- the role of SAIs in strengthening accountability and transparency in the public sector, by Michel Huissoud, Former Head of the Swiss Federal Audit Office;
- the implementation of recommendations and follow-ups in performance audits, by Emese Fésüs of the European Commission;
- international cooperation between IBAN and SAIs, by Sébastien Lepers, IBAN Board Member
The SAIs representatives acknowledged the productive discussions and noted the IBAN's efforts to enhance international cooperation opportunities with their national audit institutions.
