Europese Commissie wil meer aandacht voor kwaliteit statistieken (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday (25 May) adopted a set of guidelines aimed at increasing the reliabiliy of both national and European statistics, following incorrect data given by some EU member states.

Statistics are one of the factors on which the planning and the implementation of the EU's policies are based, but this is thrown into disarray when the figures cannot be trusted.

Last year, it emerged that Greece had been in breach of the euro rules at the time it joined the single currency, but got in because the data it had given was incorrect.

As a result of the figures, the country had an excessive budget deficit for years without it being noticed.

EU finance ministers last year asked the Commission to come up with some minimum standards on statistics.

The code of practice sets 15 principles, such as professional independence, adequacy of resources, quality commitment, statistical confidentiality and impartiality and objectivity.

The EU's executive itself has committed to making sure that Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, adheres to these practices, the Commission says in a statement. It also urges member states to move in the same direction.

Finance ministers will discuss the proposals at their next meeting on 7 June.