Mission and strategy

Mission

Precisely because of the social turmoil the country is facing, we at the Netherlands Court of Audit are continuing to do what we have been doing well for more than 200 years: auditing the government’s management of public money in compliance with the rules and the results that government policy delivers for citizens and businesses.

The Court of Audit’s mission is and will remain: helping to improve the performance and operation of central government and the institutions associated with it.

Our strategy: Trust in Accountability

Our strategic choices for 2026-2028

Insight into public money

The public money we audit every year runs into hundreds of millions of euros. It is of fundamental social importance to the Netherlands. That is why we always ask ourselves how much money is involved and whether it can be traced. This can be seen in the products we issue every year, such as our accountability audits and budget letters.

Insight into results for citizens and businesses

Our audits begin and end with the citizens and businesses in our country. The government exists to serve them. It is they who finance the government through their taxes, contributions and other payments. We therefore analyse the results that are achieved for citizens and businesses. In other words, we ask whether policy is effective. This can be seen in the involvement of citizens and businesses in our audits and in the audit briefings we hold for citizens and businesses.

Impact on learning and improving government performance

Our work is meaningful if it prompts both parliament and government to make a difference in the lives of citizens and businesses. If it does, our work has an impact. To have an impact, we carry out a socially engaged thematic audit programme, analyse its impact and follow-up, and strengthen the ties with the world around us. This can be seen in our commitment to improving the government’s Strategic Evaluation Agenda and our monitoring of the follow-up on our recommendations and their impact.

Agile and flexible organisation

The Court of Audit stands or falls on its people. To achieve our ambitions in these turbulent times, our organisation must respond agilely and flexibly to the rapidly changing challenges and transitions facing the country. It is therefore vital that our people can carry out their work correctly and that our internal processes are in order. This can be seen in the renovation of our premises into a transparent meeting place and our use of modern audit methods and new digital techniques

Focus on audit themes

In 2026-2028 our audit programme will focus on 3 themes: Security, Health, and Environment & Climate.

Besides these substantive themes, the more functional theme of digitalisation will rank high in our audit programming. We will examine both the opportunities and risks of digitalisation for an effective and efficient government.

What will not change

Accountability audit

We want our annual audits of the ministries’ annual accounts to do more than simply attest to central government’s annual financial statements and arrive at an opinion on the quality of operational management. We check whether the government collected and spent public money in accordance with the rules in the previous year, and whether it implemented policy as intended. We ask 3 key questions:

• Results: Did the government’s use of public money achieve the intended results?
• Operational management: Is operational management in order at the ministries?
• Money: Is money collected, spent and accounted for in accordance with the rules?

Opinions

We also express opinions in our other audits on the government’s policy implementation. Our audits establish the facts so that we can express an independent, expert opinion. We keep parliament and government on their toes when they take decisions about the future of our country. Our audits of government performance assess whether government policies deliver the intended results and whether the government and the institutions associated with it spend public money sensibly, economically and prudently. In these performance audits we determine whether the right measures are taken to put policy into practice and whether they are conducive to the policy goals. In the coming strategic period we will set specific annual targets regarding the number of publications in which we can express an opinion on policy effectiveness and efficiency. We will consider progress against these targets in our annual activity report.

In touch

We are independent but work in conjunction with other organisations. As our primary target group, parliament is the first to receive our reports and letters. Our work is also relevant to the ministries and public service providers we audit, and to our ultimate stakeholders: citizens and businesses. We want to enter into a dialogue with them to discuss our audits and their outcomes.