“Adequate but with many flaws.” This is the opinion of the European Court of Auditors on the reliability and completeness of statistics in the European Union. For example, the figures need to be better adapted to the needs of the users. Furthermore, not all data is always available in the field of health and business.
Between 2013 and 2020, almost half a billion euros of taxpayers’ money from the European Treasury was spent on the production of European statistics. These figures are published by, among others, the European statistical office Eurostat. The report covers statistics published in the period 2017 to 2020.
Doubt about the cause of death
During that time, researchers found gaps in health statistics, such as data on causes of death and health care spending. They were incomplete because national statistical offices are allowed to provide some data voluntarily, which does not happen (on time) in all EU countries. Consequently, they do not appear in the Eurostat database.
The researchers also conclude that it is not always possible to verify whether the figures are reliable. This is because Eurostat does not have the right to verify, for example, employment or population data from Member States. Based on these figures, the money is being distributed by the EU for economic recovery after the corona pandemic. If these numbers are incorrect, the money could be distributed unfairly.
Data often late
Even the European Court of Auditors is concerned about how up-to-date the available data is. EU Member States can transmit some data to Eurostat up to two years after the event, but sometimes this happens too late, partially or not at all. The researchers also conclude that there is too little flexibility to come up with new statistics quickly. This proved to be necessary, for example, when alternative methods had to be found for calculating death rates during the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: BNR
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