Abstract
The relevance of the study is due to the transformation of the role of external public financial control in the context of Ukraine’s European integration, martial law, international financial support and preparation for post-war reconstruction. Under these conditions, public finance control becomes important not only as a tool for detecting budget violations, but also as an institutional and legal guarantee of legality, transparency, accountability and trust in the state. The article aims to determine the essence of the legal mechanism for harmonizing external public financial control in Ukraine with European standards of independent audit of public finances and to outline the prospects for its improvement. It is substantiated that the European model of external public finance control is based on the institutional independence of the supreme audit institution, parliamentary accountability, professional audit methodology and effective procedures for responding to audit conclusions. It is determined that the methodological basis for harmonization is the principles of INTOSAI, ISSAI standards, EUROSAI practices and the institutional model of the European Court of Auditors as the independent external auditor of the EU. It is proven that the legal status of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine should be assessed not only through the formal consolidation of powers, but also through real independence, sufficiency of the mandate, access to information, personnel and methodological capacity, quality of reporting, parliamentary follow-up and implementation of recommendations. The problems of harmonization are outlined: insufficient constitutional and legal guarantees, the risk of formal implementation of ISSAI, uncertainty of legal consequences of audit documents, weakness of responsibility for non-compliance with the Accounting Chamber’s decisions and the need for risk-oriented planning. The blocks of harmonization are systematized: international-professional, institutional-European, contractual-integration, strategic-adaptive and scientific-methodological. The legal mechanism of harmonization of external state financial control consists of the normative, institutional and procedural-methodological approximation of the status and activities of the Accounting Chamber to the European model of an independent supreme audit institution. Prospects for improvement are related to strengthening the independence of the Accounting Chamber, the actual implementation of INTOSAI/ISSAI standards, the development of parliamentary control over the implementation of audit recommendations, and the specification of approaches to the audit of Ukraine Facility funds, international financial assistance, and post-war reconstruction.
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