President of the European Court of Auditors visits the National Audit Office

The President of the European Court of Auditors Klaus-Heiner Lehne, who has been occupying this role since 1st October 2016, accompanied by Malta’s Member at the ECA, Leo Brincat, made an official visit to the National Audit Office.

They were welcomed by the Auditor General Charles Deguara, and by the Deputy Auditor General Noel Camilleri, who both conveyed their appreciation to Mr Lehne for kindly accepting their invitation to visit the Office.

During a meeting with the NAO’s senior management team, Mr Lehne made reference to the ECA’s main objectives. He said that the challenges and issues faced by the NAO and the ECA are practically identical. He emphasised the role that auditing offices have so that EU citizens regain the trust in the EU institutions. The use of landscape review proved extremely beneficial to the ECA.

On his part, Mr Brincat conveyed his appreciation for the professionalism and independence that the NAO has shown consistently, while the ECA felt honoured to be organising jointly a seminar in Malta on ‘Audit Follow Up in the Public Sector: Enhancing Accountability.’ Martin Weber, Director in the Directorate of the ECA Presidency, will be a keynote speaker during this joint seminar which will be held in September.

Mr Deguara emphasised the NAO’s commitment to carry out its constitutional mandate in the most professional, objective and transparent manner possible thus promoting good governance and the best use of public resources in the best interest of the taxpayer.

He also reiterated the NAO’s readiness to develop even further its excellent working relationship with the ECA especially through its continued participation in ECA organised initiatives and technical and logistical support during ECA’s audit assignments in Malta.