The investment account and the civil society

Within a context meeting the present requirements from the civil society, the EFS (Higher supervisory entities) should prepare the regulatory framework to promote citizen participation so that they may:

a) Deal with denunciations or have them as background for their supervision duties.
b) Ensure that the state agencies give adequate information to citizens and that citizens have easy access to information and documentation sources.
c) Duly publicize the results of its supervision task.
d) Participate in the process to sensitize citizens through contributions to their education and training.

These subjects are of great importance and shall be discussed by the EFS (Higher supervisory entities) of the area at the 14th General assembly of the Organization for Latin American and the Caribbean from the Higher supervisory entities (OLACEFS), to be held at Buenos Aires from November 14 through November 19, 2004.
           
Within this pattern we are proposing: to render accounts means to clearly and duly answer when, how much, why and how public resources were applied and, as the case may be, how many resources remained. It is also very important to determine how much was collected, i.e., whether the income estimate was met. This perception is based upon a set of legally defined taxes. This relies upon the application of the old principle that establishes that there is no tax without law.
           
To this effect, the rendering of accounts is included within what we nowadays call “accountability”, that is, the obligation to answer for the responsibilities assumed.
           
Certainly, an essential principle of the budget is that the citizens must know when and how expenses have been incurred. In the case of a proposal by the government, the budget must be easy to discern, to understand. It is also essential to know whether the budgetary standards were met and to what extent.
           
The importance of the investment account grows due to the powers repeatedly conferred upon the executive branch with respect to reallocation of budgetary items within the scope of the Chief of Cabinet. Such powers represent a growing weakening of one of the main duties of Congress. Also, once this possibility has been delegated, its exercise and its impact on the budgetary mandate might be conclusively evaluated only afterwards, upon the analysis of the investment account which, as stated, is carried out with a considerable delay. Thus, for instance, the AGN is already finishing the review of the account for year 2002, but Congress has not yet approved the account for year 1994 and subsequent years.
           
It does not really have to do with only an “authorization” to spend –which configures a government plan– but mostly an evaluation of its degree of performance. What is at play in the rendering of accounts if the essential right to know when, how much and how the expense was incurred. If this is so, the investment account would not just be a subject for specialists because it concerns the society as a whole. Aware of the importance implied in this fact, the AGN has encouraged the participation of the citizens through NGOs and other associations both in the preparation of its annual planning and in the follow-up of its recommendations.
           
However, the efficiency of citizen participation is directly conditioned by the information they receive, and that is the essential part of our task: giving information to the representatives of the people and to the civil society, paying heed to the concerns of its members and giving feedback to our control management.
           
The report on the investment account and the specific reports do not end with just the remittance to Congress and the publication in Internet, its life is just beginning, they receive views from different angles that enlighten them. We are starting a new dialogue. In this dialogue, time is important. We can talk of history or we can talk of the present, drawing the auditor closer to the people, drawing the report closer to the events. This dialogue must become a virtuous cycle that may answer the question many have asked: what is the use of control?