Commission backs Greek statisticians

The European Commission has told the Greek government it must "actively and publicly" challenge recent claims that national data is unreliable.

A team of three commissioners sent a letter to Euclid Tsakalos, Greek’s finance minister, on 24 August, warning that efforts to diminish the quality of statistics in the country undermined the validity of Greece’s financial statements.

The letter was sent in response to an impending trial of three Greek government statisticians, who are accused of “undermining the national interest” by publishing data on Greek debt. The case is widely seen as a failure by Greece’s politicians to accept responsibility for the country’s fiscal problems, the Financial Times reports.