At today’s meeting, representatives of the Parliamentary Centre of Canada informed members of the Finance Committee of the reasons and possibilities of forming a Supreme Audit Institution in the Republic of Serbia.

Besides Committee members, the meeting was attended by David Rattray, senior adviser and specialist at Canada’s Supreme Audit Institution, Daniel Blais, comparative models specialist with UNDP Supreme Audit Institution, as well as Boris Chamernik, senior programme co-ordinator with the Parliamentary Centre.

Parliamentary Centre representatives pointed out that the role of the Supreme Audit Institution was to oversee the management of public finances, but also the quality and credibility of financial reports submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Committee members underscored the fact that all National Assembly deputies were committed to the formation of a commission or other body charged with monitoring the Government’s work in relation to all budget processes, and that the importance of such monitoring was substantial, bearing in mind the level of public spending.

The meeting saw the start of an initiative for the formation of a sub-committee charged with drafting a Supreme Audit Institution Bill. At the Finance Committee’s next session, the initiative is to be forwarded, in the form of a proposal of a decision, to all deputies’ groups represented on the Committee.

David Rattray, specialist with Canada’s Supreme Audit Institution, said that the passage of a Supreme Audit Institution Act was one of the preconditions for joining the European Union.

The meeting marked the start of dialogue on necessary preconditions for the formation of a Supreme Audit Institution in the Republic of Serbia and the passage of legislation regulating this field.