The External Public Audit in the Member States of the European Union: Between Standard Typology and Diversity

Abstract

The premise of the research is represented by the importance of the external public audit, as a specific activity that the supreme audit institutions carry out at the level of the public sector entities, in order to provide to interested parties, assurances regarding the management of the public resources of these entities. The research objectives are two-dimensional and the research methodology is qualitative and interpretive. The first dimension aims to identify the conceptual connotations of the external public audit in the specialized literature. The second dimension represents a multicriteria comparative analysis regarding the typology of the external public audit carried out by the supreme institutions of the European Union member states. The study is carried out regarding all the 27 member states, information regarding the United Kingdom, which has recently left the European Union, being also presented and analyzed. The research results showed that, although the applied audit methods vary, convergent elements have been identified, so that the typology of the external public audit also validates the European Union unity in diversity motto, at the level of the specific activities of the supreme audit institutions in the community area. On the background of an area of undoubted importance, but limited in terms of research, this scientific demarche represents a major challenge for both the academic and the socio-economic environment. Thus, the conceptual valences of the external public audit will be complemented and an increase of credibility and relevance will be generated in the manner of supervising the public financial resources’ management of the public sector entities at the level of the European Union member states, in the context of the economic turbulences and the rising demand for public services manifested at European and international level.