Work of the State Budget Control Select Committee

The State Budget Control Select Committee is a committee of the Riigikogu which monitors, in cooperation with the National Audit Office, the Government of the Republic that the state budget is implemented and the state assets and budget funds are used economically, expediently and lawfully. Once a year the Committee reports on its activities to the Riigikogu.

The IX Riigikogu formed the State Budget Control Select Committee in 2004 on the initiative of the National Audit Office.

The Select Committee:

• Reviews the consolidated annual report of the state and the audit report on it
• Deals with the issues concerning the auditing of the public sector
• Discusses the audit reports and overviews of the National Audit Office and important issues raised by the Auditor General
• Informs the National Audit Office about the problems communicated to members of the Committee by officials and private persons
• Forms a position on cases of obstruction of the activities of the National Audit Office on the basis of the information received from the National Audit Office

Sittings

The sittings of the Select Committee are public and live broadcasts of the public sittings can be followed in real time. A sitting or a part thereof may be declared closed by a decision of the Committee in order to protect personal data, and banking, business or state secrets.

Preliminary information on the topics and the time of the sittings, the guests invited to the sittings, and presentations is available on the homepage of the Committee. After public discussions, the verbatim record is published and, if necessary, press releases are issued.

It has become an established practice that representatives of the National Audit Office participate in the sittings of the Select Committee. Also, secretaries general, deputy secretaries general and other officials of ministries connected with the field of auditing and, if necessary, also ministers and private persons involved in the matter are invited.

Necessary consensus

It is important to achieve political consensus regarding the use of the state budget funds. Therefore it has become a good practice for the Select Committee to make its decisions by consensus.