The role of supreme audit institutions in energy accountability in EU countries

TLDR

Energy accountability is essential for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, yet the role of supreme audit institutions in this process remains largely unexplored despite their responsibility to assess government energy practices. The study seeks to determine the role of supreme audit institutions in energy accountability across EU member states. The authors reviewed audit reports from 13 of 27 EU member state SAIs, finding that their ex‑post audits are primarily domestic and aimed at maximizing public usefulness. The study concludes that current ex‑post audits by SAIs are inadequate for EU‑wide energy accountability, and recommends that SAIs adopt more substantial, supranational audit strategies.

Abstract

The implementation of all the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires sustainable energy production and consumption; hence the issue of energy accountability is vital. There are several studies on the activities of supreme audit institutions (SAIs); however, the research question - what is the role of SAIs in energy accountability is still without an answer. Meanwhile, SAIs, as critical public auditors have to evaluate how do governments deal with energy issues, helping not only spend money sparingly but also in an accountable manner. Based on review the audit reports of 13 from 27 SAIs from the European Member States, we argue that the SAIs strive to maximise public usefulness through ex-post audits mainly focused domestically. This audit approach is not sufficient to strengthen energy accountability in the whole European Union. The process of energy accountability has a supranational character with numerous variables. We offer the potentially radical conclusion and suggestion, that SAIs are not ready for being evaluator in supranational scale, and that they should change their current audit strategies taking more substantial involvement in energy accountability.