Strengere Europese richtlijnen voor wijze waarop landen de economische statistieken bijhouden (en)

The European Commission has adopted a draft Regulation aimed at improving the quality of national budgetary statistics which is essential to fulfil the fiscal surveillance duties assigned to it in the EU Treaty. The draft Regulation provides that Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office, will be able to carry out in-depth monitoring visits in the Member States, on top of its regular missions, to verify the reported fiscal data. The proposal also generally enshrines in a legal text existing best practices with regard to the compilation and reporting of data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure.

"Budgetary surveillance is a necessary and crucial task to ensure the smooth functioning of the single currency area. But this task can only be fulfilled if the Commission receives reliable and timely statistics from the Member States and if Eurostat is able to get a speedy response to its questions and can monitor the processes and accounts that justify the reported data," said Joaquin Almunia i, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner.

The Commission today adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation ^[1] as regards the quality of the statistical data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure which aims at:

• Providing a legal base to existing best practices on the compilation and reporting of data (as laid down in the Code of Best Practices adopted by Finance Ministers in February 2003).
• Providing a more systematic approach to monitor the quality of the data by allowing for in-depth monitoring visits in addition to the regular missions currently carried out.
• Bringing more transparency, and consequently more accountability, throughout the whole process, at both Member States and Commission levels. The proposal foresees, for example, the publication by the Member States of the reported data and of the inventories with sources and methods used to compile the accounts, as well as the mission reports.

The in-depth visits would allow Eurostat to monitor the processes and accounts which justify the reported data and to draw detailed conclusions as to compliance with accounting rules and overall quality of the reported data ^[2] . Eurostat officials may be assisted by national experts, including from other Member States, as well as officials from other Commission departments. Member States, on the other hand, should ensure that their services directly or indirectly involved in the production of government accounts provide the mission officials with the necessary assistance.

The draft Regulation was announced in the Commission's Communication "Towards a European strategy for fiscal statistics governance" adopted by the Commission on 22 December 2004 ^[3] and welcomed by the Ecofin Council on 17 February.

The Commission is still working on improving minimum European standards regarding the independence, integrity and accountability of the national statistical institutes and of Eurostat, which was also part of the strategy outlined in December. It intends to make proposals before the end of June.

For the text of the draft Regulation see : ( Eurostat activities / Eurostat news )

^[1] The proposal would amend Regulation 3605/93, which contains a number of relevant definitions for the purpose of the excessive deficit procedure and lays down a timetable for the reporting of fiscal data, but does not refer to the assessment of the quality of the reported data.

^[2] Article 3 of the Protocol on the Excessive Deficit Procedure (which is annexed to the Treaty) states that Member States shall report their deficits and level of debt promptly and regularly to the Commission. Regulation 3605/93 also lays down detailed reporting obligation and procedures.

^[3] See IP/04/1530 and Communication COM (2004) 832