–Move Comes In Response To Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis
BRUSSELS (MNI) – New rules to improve the quality of European Union
statistics were formally approved on Monday and are likely to come into
force later this month.
The new rules — which are being strengthened after Greece
falsified its statistics and then revealed late last year that its
budget deficit was nearly four times higher than the EU’s stipulated 3%
limit — give EU statistics agency Eurostat more power to check data.
“The new regulation…is intended to strengthen the role of
Eurostat when verifying the quality of data in cases where significant
risks or problems with respect to the quality of the data have been
clearly identified,” a European Council statement said.
Under the new procedure, Eurostat can ask to send officials to
countries that are thought to have provided dubious statistics.
“This follows recurrent discrepancies and shortcomings in figures
notified to the Commission by Greece in relation to its public finances,
and repeated calls by the Council for it to improve the collection and
processing of its statistical data,” the statement said.
The new legislation should take effect before the end of this
month, EU diplomats said.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
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