ECOFIN Council conclusions on Commission report on Greek government deficit and debt statistics
20 January 2010
The Council urges the Greek government to ensure independence to the Statistical Authority and more generally improve the institutional setting for the generation of national data. There is a need to put in place transparent working practices between the various Greek institutions.
The Council WELCOMES the Commission's examination of the issues regarding the Greek government deficit and debt statistics, in line with the request of the ECOFIN Council in November 2009; the Council STRESSES that the outstanding issues identified in the Report of the Commission must be addressed as a matter of priority, as they are fundamental to the economic policy surveillance process of the EU and EMU.
In the light of its concerns, the Council strongly URGES the Greek government to ensure that the outstanding methodological issues and technical procedures in the Greek national services, as well as the improvements to the governance and institutional structures as identified in the report, are properly addressed.
The Council WELCOMES the fact that the Greek government has initiated a number of actions to reform the National Statistical System, granting independence to the Statistical Authority and more generally improving the institutional setting for the generation and dissemination of national data. The Council CALLS ON the government to decisively address the shortcomings in administrative and operational capacity involved in the production of EDP statistics, by putting in place transparent working practices between the various institutions and granting them integrity and full accountability.
The Council INVITES the Commission to continue cooperating with the Greek authorities, taking into account their initiatives, with a view to supporting efforts to resolve the statistical problems and improve collection and processing of government statistics in order to restore confidence in Greek statistics, as well as to propose appropriate measures that will bring the Greek statistical system on the whole in line with EU requirements and to develop, by February 2010, an action plan to tackle statistical, institutional and governance deficiencies.
The Council will monitor the progress at its forthcoming meetings and will revert at its next meeting in February
© ECFIN
