EU on Greek statistics scandal: ‘Never again’

Stronger measures to ensure the quality and credibility of EU statistics have been set out in a proposal adopted by the European Commission on the 17 April 2012. High-quality, reliable statistics are fundamental for evidence-based decision making. Demands for such data have further increased in light of the enhanced economic-policy coordination that has been agreed in the EU over the past year. Moreover, recent economic events have shown the importance of credible statistics to ensure the trust of the public and the financial markets in such decisions.

The Commission has proposed a revision of the EU Regulation on Statistics to further strengthen in law the independence, reliability and quality management of statistics coming from Member States and compiled at EU level.

The proposal focuses on two main areas: (i) the independence of National Statistical Institutes and in particular the heads of these authorities; (ii) Member States will be required to sign 'Commitments of Confidence', confirming at the highest political level the obligation to fully respect the European Statistics Code of Practice.

EUObserver reported that the proposals are about how to shield national statistics bureaus from political influence, three years after Greece lied about its deficit, triggering its first bail-out and marking the start of the eurozone crisis.

European Commission: Press Release, IP/12/375: Commission strengthens independence and reliability of EU statistics http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/375&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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