The code review opportunities are joke. The only chance to review a mere million lines of codes thoroughly is to throw a million eyes on it and open communication about findings.
The way those are done now, they are Valium for politicians and a cash cow for those doing the "audits".
There's also the issue of the data. It should always be accessible in a format that anyone is free to inter-operate with (E.G. no patent restrictions), and preferably in one or more protocols/apis/formats that fulfill this criteria.
Critically it must be possible to utilize the data without proprietary products. Government records need to stand the test of time. Just like we can read ink on paper today, in the future preserved records need to remain readable. Libre formats ensure that there is a known, implementable solution. However they also make it more likely that someone will already have that solution.
Question: If governments could inspect and audit MS source code, would the concerns brought up in the article be addressed?
This is a clarifying question, not a loaded one. To avoid any surprises: governments, including the EU can and do audit MS source code (public source, for example: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/microsoft-lets-eu-gover...)