Brussels, 26/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 July, the General Affairs Council adopted a regulation strengthening the role of Eurostat in the verification of the quality of data provided by member states for statistics on their deficits and debt. The adoption of this regulation took place without debate and follows an agreement reached at the Council on 8 June last.
The goal of the regulation, which amends Regulation (EC) 479/2009, is to enable the Commission and member states to work together more effectively in improving the quality and reliability of statistical data used to determine government deficit and debt figures. Its adoption follows disparities and recurring omissions in the figures communicated to the Commission by Greece, with regard to the country's public finances and the requests formulated on several occasions by the Council for the country to improve the gathering and processing of statistical data.
Existing provisions, laid down in Regulation 479/2009, enable Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, to regularly assess the quality both of data reported by the member states and of underlying government sector accounts. Quality of data implies compliance with accounting rules, as well as the completeness, reliability, timeliness and consistency of statistical data.
The new regulation, amending Regulation 479/2009, 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. (O.L./transl.fl)