Greek budget turns up heat on Eurostat

Questions have been raised as to why Eurostat, the European Union's statistical arm, which raised concerns about Greece's grossly understated budget figures as early as September 2002, did not insist on urgent action to resolve the problem. Greece was warned on 23 September 2004 it could face legal action for under-reporting its national deficit and debt figures. Commission officials maintain that collection of statistics is a national responsibility whilst Eurostat verifies the numbers - it cannot, however, certify the figures.