Supreme audit institutions and parliaments have an important role in holding governments to account for the use of public funds. Parliaments rely on the objective and professional work of supreme audit institutions to provide them with information about the use of public resources. Parliaments, however, will only use the work of the supreme audit institutions if it is interesting and relevant.

This SIGMA paper provides a comparative analysis of how supreme audit institutions and parliaments have developed effective working relationships in the European Union (EU) and EU Accession countries. It describes the expectations for establishing effective relationships and the key factors and issues that influence them, and offers guidance to supreme audit institutions and parliaments for establishing effective working relationships. It also provides a toolkit for strengthening these working relations.