The legislative resolution looks at ways to strengthen the Eurostat and to improve EU budget statistics. It calls for a harmonised system for statistical data and implies possible sanctions on Member States that falsify their statistics.
Eurostat would get "dawn raid" powers, including complete freedom over which entities to question, and could also require EU Member States to supply exhaustive information on their "off balance sheet" activities, under Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee amendments, approved on Monday, to a legislative proposal.
The legislative resolution - on which Parliament is being consulted - looks at ways to strengthen the European Commission statistics Directorate-General and to improve EU budget statistics. It calls for a harmonised system for presenting statistical data, and suggests that European Central Bank representatives should accompany Eurostat on visits. It also says that the Commission should consider imposing sanctions on Member States that falsify their statistics on government deficit and debt.
"This is the first legislative act related to the Greek crisis and it is the first litmus test for the Member States on whether they are ready to act on their words. Eurostat must be empowered to get whatever information it wants", said rapporteur Othmar Karas (EPP, AT), presenting his text.
Eurostat powers
The committee text goes further than the Commission proposal by strengthening Eurostat's powers in several ways. Most significantly, it proposes granting Eurostat the power to undertake unannounced methodological visits to the Member States to monitor accounting processes and verify accounts relating to data reported to the EU and draw detailed conclusions on the quality of this data. It also empowers Eurostat to make on-site inspections and to hold interviews with any organisation it deems relevant to its work. Finally, it calls for Eurostat's staff to be increased.
Statistical quality and level of information
The resolution approved on Monday also goes into more detail than the original proposal on what information Member States should be required to provide on the health of their budgets. For example, it specifies that information must be provided about any type of off-balance sheet activity, about the accounts of social security funds, and about surveys of local governments. It also stresses that all information and statistics communicated to the EU must be based on a standardised and internationally-accepted method of accounting, so as to avoid discrepancies among Member States and enhance comparability.
Council procrastination has cost the EU dear
The resolution lays a big part of the responsibility for sub-optimal statistics at the Council's door. It accuses the Council of failing to heed European Commission's warnings in 2004 on the need for better fiscal statistics. "If timely action had been taken, the errors in reporting the relevant data on public deficits could have been identified much sooner and the resulting crisis could at least have been contained", says the resolution.
Next steps
This resolution, to be put to a plenary vote in July, will be Parliament's contribution to shaping Eurostat's new powers. The Council is to approve the regulation formally establishing these new powers once it has considered Parliaments proposals.
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