Brussels, 06/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - To a considerable extent, the lack of reliability of statistics explains the mistrust on the part of the markets as regards Greece's economic policies. The European Parliament has therefore made amendments to the European Commission's proposal on the quality of the statistical data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure, which bolster the investigative powers conferred upon Eurostat.
In its adoption, in Strasbourg on Tuesday 6 July (by 588 votes in favour, 35 against and 36 abstentions), of the report by Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria) on the statistical data in the framework of the excessive deficit procedure, the EP is taking the view that the member states must provide the Commission (Eurostat) with “all statistical and budgetary information on the basis of a standardised and internationally accepted method of accounting”.
Sanctions in the event of falsified statistics. The EP is determined that additional measures should be taken to guarantee that the case of Greece may never happen again in the future. According to the EP, the Commission should plan to draft “sanctions within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact in relation to the submission of misrepresented macro-economic statistics by member states.” The Commission should consider enforcing “such sanctions against member states that falsify the macroeconomic statistics relating to their budget deficit and government debt”.
Quality of the statistics. The EP's amendments aim to ensure that the member states provide Eurostat, as quickly as possible, with access to all of the statistical and budgetary information requested which is needed to assess the quality of the data. By statistical and budgetary information, the EP means such things as the data of national accounts; inventories; excessive deficit procedure (EDP) notification tables; - the accounts of extra-budgetary bodies or non-profit organisations; - exhaustive information on all kinds of off-balance sheet bodies; - the accounts of social security funds; - local government surveys.
The powers of Eurostat. The EP has proposed giving Eurostat the power to conduct unannounced methodological visits to check the accounting and auditing process of the member states as regards the data communicated to the EU. It also authorises Eurostat to carry out inspections on site and to carry out talks with any organisation presenting an interest in the framework of its work. One amendment provides for representatives of the European Central Bank (ECB) to be able to take part in these visits and to assist Eurostat staff members during these visits. The EP calls for Eurostat staff numbers to be increased.
Lastly, the Council of Ministers comes under criticism for failing to heed the warnings of the European Commission in 2004 on the need for better fiscal statistics. “Had timely action been taken, the errors in reporting the relevant data on public deficit could have been identified much sooner and the resulting crisis could at least have been contained”, an EP amendment stipulates. (L.C./transl.fl)