Tuesday, 13 March 2012 - Strasbourg

Explanation of vote:
Rapporteur: Edward Scicluna (A7-0037/2012)

Pino Arlacchi (S&D ), in writing . − Dear Mr. President, I support this resolution because the debt crisis in the eurozone has highlighted the dangers of statistical inaccuracy and fraud arising from sloppy statistical governance arrangements.

It is of fundamental importance to have in all the EU independent statistical bodies in order to maintain the credibility of statistical data. Statistical offices should not only be statutorily independent, but should also have mechanisms in place to ensure the total separation from the political process. For this reason all Member States must formally adopt a commitment to take all necessary measures at national level to maintain confidence in public statistics and to allow for more rigorous enforcement of the European Statistics Code of Practice. The provision of accurate,high-quality statistics is crucial to have a sustainable regional development.

[source: www.europarl.europa.eu]