Brussels, 28/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has decided to interrupt negotiations on the reform of the European statistical system, whose main purpose is to reinforce the reliability of statistics through the independence of statisticians and greater transparency (see EUROPE 10596).
The Parliament explains that the mandate recently given to the Greek Presidency, largely influenced by the European Commission, unfortunately leaves no scope for any progress to be made by the end of the parliamentary term because the Commission does not want the new measures to apply to the EU's statistical office, (Eurostat). The Parliament is calling for the head of Eurostat to be able to oppose the Commission if he or she believes that his or her independence is under threat. The Parliament wants to be consulted over the appointment of the head of Eurostat, as occurs in the member states.
“What we propose reinforces the Union, it would make statistics better and contribute to closing the democratic deficit in the EU, even if just slightly. For the Commission to oppose this and to abuse the Treaty it is supposed to champion is despicable,” said Liêm Hoang-Ngoc (S&D, France) in a press release issued by the Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee.
The Council of Ministers has not yet decided on its negotiating position so the second reading in co-decision with the Parliament, which will soon be busy preparing for the European elections, will not take place until July 2014. (MB)