REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the quality of fiscal data reported by Member States in 2015
Date: 2016-03-23
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, budget deficit, economic statistics, public debt, public finance, publication of accounts

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 23.3.2016  COM(2016) 164 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the quality of fiscal data reported by Member States in 2015  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the quality of fiscal data reported by Member States in 2015 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1.  BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................... 3 

2.  MAIN FINDINGS ON THE 2015 REPORTING OF GOVERNMENT DEFICIT AND DEBT LEVELS ...... 3 

2.1.  Timeliness, reliability and completeness .......................................................................... 3 

2.1.1. 

Timeliness ................................................................................................................. 3 

2.1.2.  Reliability .................................................................................................................. 4 

2.1.3.  Completeness of tables and supporting information ................................................. 4 

2.1.4. 

Supplementary tables relating to the financial crisis ................................................. 5 

2.1.5.  Questionnaire on intergovernmental lending ............................................................ 5 

2.2.  Compliance with accounting rules and consistency of statistical data ............................. 6 

2.2.1. 

Exchange of information and clarifications .............................................................. 6 

2.2.2.  Dialogue and methodological visits .......................................................................... 6 

2.2.3. 

Specific advice by Eurostat ....................................................................................... 7 

2.2.4. 

Investigations into the enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area ....... 7 

2.2.5.  Recent methodological issues ................................................................................... 8 

2.2.6.  Consistency with the underlying government accounts ............................................ 8 

2.3. 

Publication ........................................................................................................................ 9 

2.3.1. 

Publication of headline figures and detailed reporting tables ................................... 9 

2.3.2.  Reservations on the quality of data ........................................................................... 9 

2.3.3.  Amendments to the reported data ........................................................................... 10 

2.3.4. 

Publication of metadata (inventories) ..................................................................... 10 

3.  CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................ 10 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
1. 

BACKGROUND 

Article  8(3)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2009  on  the  application  of  the 
Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) annexed to the Treaty establishing 
the European Community1 requires the Commission (Eurostat) to report regularly to 
the European Parliament and to the Council on the quality of the actual data reported 
by Member States. The current annual report provides an overall assessment of the 
timeliness,  reliability,  completeness,  compliance  with  accounting  rules  and 
consistency  of  the  data.  The  previous  report  (on  the  data  reported  in  2014)  was 
adopted by the Commission on 3 March 20152. 

Eurostat regularly assesses the quality of the actual data reported by Member States 
and  of  the  underlying  general  government  sector  accounts.  October 2014  was  the 
first  time  these  accounts  were  compiled  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EU)  No 
549/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  21  May  2013  on  the 
European  system  of  national  and  regional  accounts  in  the  European  Union  (ESA 
2010)3.  This  assessment  concentrates  on  the  factors  that  explain  the  general 
government deficit/surplus and changes in general government debt. Member States 
send  this  information  to  Eurostat  twice  per  year  as  part  of  the  ‘EDP  notification 
tables’ and the supplementary information included in the ‘Questionnaire related to 
the  EDP  notification  tables’,  the  ‘Supplementary  table  for  the  financial  crisis’  and 
also via bilateral clarifications. Eurostat also maintains contact with Member States 
by making regular EDP dialogue visits. 

This  report  is  based  on  the  main  findings  and  results  of  the  EDP  data  reported  by 
Member States in 2015. It focuses on the latest reports submitted in October 2015. 
Where appropriate, comparisons are made with the data sent in April 2015, as well 
as with those sent in 2014. 

2. 

MAIN  FINDINGS  ON  THE  2015  REPORTING  OF  GOVERNMENT  DEFICIT  AND  DEBT 
LEVELS 

2.1. 

Timeliness, reliability and completeness 

2.1.1.  Timeliness 

Member States are required to report their actual and planned EDP data to Eurostat 
twice per year, before 1 April and 1 October4. The 2015 EDP reporting covered 2011 
to 2015. The figures for 2015 are those planned by the national authorities, while the 
2011 to 2014 figures are actual data5. In accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation 
(EC) No 479/2009, Eurostat assesses the actual data reported by Member States, but 
not the planned data. 

Compliance  with  the reporting  deadlines  is  very  good.  In  2015,  all  Member  States 
reported  their  actual  data  by  the  legal  deadline  for  both  EDP  notifications.  Some 
countries delivered planned data for 2015 later than the actual data. 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1. 
COM(2015) 88 final. 
OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1. 
Articles 3(1) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009. 
Actual data can be final, half-finalised or estimated figures. 

3 

 
 
                                                            
2.1.2.  Reliability 

Revisions  made  between  the  April  2015  and  the  October  2015  EDP  notifications 
were  mainly  due  to  source  data  updates  and  methodological  changes,  such  as  the 
reclassification  of  units  inside  the  general  government  sector  and  the  recording  of 
some transactions.  

In  2014,  the  largest  positive  revisions,  showing  a  decrease  in  the  deficit  as  a 
percentage  of  GDP,  were  made  in  Luxembourg  (+0.8  pp),  Denmark  (+0.3  pp), 
Ireland  and  Sweden  (+0.2  pp).  The  largest  negative  revisions,  where  the  deficit 
increased,  were  made  in  Bulgaria  (-3.0  pp),  Portugal  (-2.7  pp)  and  in  other  four 
Member States (Germany -0.4 pp, Austria -0.3 pp, Finland and Slovenia -0.2 pp). In 
the  past  five  years,  no  country  has  revised  its  deficit  as  much  as  Bulgaria  and 
Portugal did in October 2015 as a follow up of the April 2015 Eurostat reservation 
on their 2014 deficit data. The largest revision of 2014 debt, of around 1 percentage 
point  of  GDP,  was  made  in  Sweden.  Germany  also  substantially  revised  its  debt, 
changing it by 0.5 pp. 

GDP revisions  usually have  a  larger denominator effect on government debt  ratios 
than on government deficit ratios. The revision of GDP had an impact on the debt 
ratio for several Member States, in particular for Spain and Greece (by more than 1 
pp)  and  for  Ireland  and  the  United  Kingdom  (by  less  than  -1  pp).  The  revision  of 
GDP had limited impact on the deficit ratio (Cyprus and Spain (-0.1 pp) and Ireland 
and the United Kingdom (+0.1 pp)). 

2.1.3.  Completeness of tables and supporting information 

The  completion  of  the  reporting  tables  is  a  legal  obligation  and  is  essential  for  a 
proper assessment by Eurostat of the quality of the data. Article 8(2) of Regulation 
(EC)  No 479/2009,  specifies  that  Member  States  must  provide  Eurostat  with  the 
relevant statistical information, which ‘(…) in particular (…) means: 

(a) 

(b) 

data from national accounts; 

inventories; 

(c)  EDP notification tables; 

(d) 

additional questionnaires and clarification related to the notifications.’ 

There  are  four  main  EDP  notification  tables.  Table  1  covers  the  reporting  of 
government deficit/surplus and debt levels. Tables 2A to 2D provide the data which 
explain  the  transition  between  the  national  definitions  of  government  balance  and 
the surplus/deficit of each government subsector. Tables 3A to 3D provide the data 
which explain the contributions of the government surplus/deficit and other relevant 
factors  to  the  variation  in  the  government  debt  level  and  the  consolidation  of  the 
debt. Table 4 includes data mainly on trade credits and advances6. EDP tables 1 and 
2 cover 2011 to 20157, while the other tables cover 2011 to 2014. 

the 

See 

statements 

6 
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/gfs/images/e/e7/Statements_9817.en93.pdf. 
7 
in EDP tables 1 and 2A. 

Council  minutes 

the 

of 

to 

22 

Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 only explicitly requires Member States to provide planned data 

November 

1993: 

4 

 
 
                                                            
All Member States completed all the EDP notification tables8. In the October 2015 
reporting, all Member States provided details in the EDP table 2 on the link between 
the  working  balance  and  the  EDP  surplus/deficit  for  all  subsectors.  In  the  United 
Kingdom,  the  working  balance  is  judged  on  the  accrual  basis  and  very  few 
adjustments to transform the working balance into a surplus/deficit according to the 
ESA 2010 were reported. Some other countries also reported only a limited number 
of transition items. 

Not all Member States provided all the breakdowns in EDP table 3. In particular, the 
details requested for the items ‘loans’ and ‘equity’ were not always reported. 

The stock of all trade credits and advances of general government should be reported 
in  EDP  table  4.  However,  less  than  half  of  Member  States  achieve  complete 
coverage of all government subsectors as well as inside the subsectors. For the other 
Member  States,  data  are  flagged  as  provisional,  i.e.  subject  to  revisions  in  future 
notifications.  This  is  the  case  for  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Denmark,  Germany,  Ireland, 
Greece,  France,  Croatia,  Italy,  Cyprus,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands, 
Austria, Poland and the United Kingdom. 

The  completeness  of  EDP  tables  can  still  be  improved.  However,  the  remaining 
issues are expected to have little impact on data quality. 

All Member States submitted replies to the ‘Questionnaire relating to the notification 
tables’9.  Although  the  coverage  and  quality  of  answers  continued  to  improve 
compared to past years, progress is still necessary, as some countries did not report 
all the details requested in the questionnaire. This applies notably to data on central 
government  claims  and  debt  cancellations,  the  breakdown  of  other  accounts 
receivable/payable  and  the  recording  of  government  guarantees  (mainly  for  the 
coverage of the local government subsector). 

2.1.4. 

Supplementary tables relating to the financial crisis 

Since 15 July 2009, Eurostat has been collecting a set of data on the financial crisis 
in a supplementary table. The data collected in 2015 concerned the period 2007 to 
2014.  All  but  seven  Member  States  (the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Croatia,  Malta, 
Poland,  Romania  and  Slovakia)  reported  various  government  interventions  in  the 
context  of  the  financial  crisis  between  2007  and  2014.  In  Finland  the  only 
interventions relating to contingent liabilities were made in 2008. Eurostat published 
a note alongside its EDP Press Releases analysing these data10.  

2.1.5.  Questionnaire on intergovernmental lending 

Member  States  also  provide  data  on  bilateral  intergovernmental  lending,  usually 
under  financial  assistance  programmes.  These  data  and  further  information  on  the 
European Financial Stability Facility form part of the EDP News Release. 

The  EDP  notification  tables  reported  by  Member  States  can  be  found  on  Eurostat’s  website: 

8 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/government-finance-statistics/excessive-deficit-procedure/edp-notification-
tables. 
9 
This questionnaire comprises 13 sections requesting quantitative and sometimes qualitative information 
in several areas, such as transactions in taxes and social contributions and with the EU, acquisition of military 
equipment,  government  guarantees,  debt  cancellations,  capital  injections  made  by  government  into  public 
corporations, public-private partnerships, rerouting transactions and other issues. 
10 
final.pdf 

See:  http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/1015035/7036501/Background-note-fin-crisis-OCT-2015-

5 

 
 
                                                            
 
Bilateral  intergovernmental  lending  increased  substantially  during  the  financial 
crisis.  It  is  deducted  when  calculating  the  EU-28  and  euro  area  aggregates  for  the 
Maastricht  government  debt,11  since  both  are  shown  on  a  consolidated  basis.  This 
consolidation  means  that  the  EU-28  and  euro  area  aggregates  are  not  equal  to  the 
arithmetical  sum  of  Member  States’  debt  (i.e.  the  aggregates  do  not  include  the 
above-mentioned intergovernmental lending between governments, to avoid double 
counting). 

2.2. 

Compliance with accounting rules and consistency of statistical data 

2.2.1.  Exchange of information and clarifications 

During the notification period between the autumn reporting deadline of 1 October 
and the publication of the data on 21 October 2015, Eurostat contacted the national 
statistical  authorities  in  every  Member  State  to  request  further  information  and  to 
clarify the application of the accounting rules on specific transactions. This process 
involved  several  rounds  of  correspondence  between  Eurostat  and  the  national 
authorities. A first round of requests for clarification was sent to all countries by 6 
October. A second round of requests was sent to 27 countries and a third round to 8 
countries. Eurostat asked certain countries to provide revised notification tables. In 
most  cases,  the  amendments  in  the  data  reported  in  the  October  2015  notification 
period did not significantly change the deficit and debt levels for 2011-2014. 

2.2.2.  Dialogue and methodological visits 

Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2009  makes  provision  for  dialogue  and  methodological 
visits.  Dialogue  visits  to  Member  States  are  conducted  regularly  (at  least  every 
second  year)  with  the  aim  of  reviewing  reported  data,  examining  methodological 
issues,  discussing  statistical  sources  and  assessing  compliance  with  the  relevant 
accounting rules (for example on the delimitation of general government, the time of 
recording and the classification of government transactions and liabilities). 

The  frequency  of  the  EDP  missions  in  the  Member  States  has  increased  in  recent 
years. If Eurostat raises a specific important issue with a Member State and it cannot 
be resolved other than by a meeting with the authorities concerned, an ad hoc visit in 
the Member State is organised. 

In  2015,  Eurostat  carried  out  the  following  EDP  dialogue  visits:  Estonia  (20-21 
January),  Italy  (2-3  February),  Croatia  (26-27  February),  United  Kingdom  (28-29 
April), Sweden (19-20 May), Latvia (26-27 May), Poland (29-30 June), Spain (9-10  
July),  Netherlands  (1-2  September),  Slovenia  (7-8  September),  Greece  (23-24 
September),  Romania  (12-13  November,  17-18  December),  Finland  (19-20 
November) and Slovakia (8-9 December). Furthermore, an ad hoc visit was made to 
Austria (14 October). 

The final findings of each dialogue visit, including the action points agreed and the 
status  of  the  issues  raised,  are  sent  to  the  Economic  and  Financial  Committee  and 

11 
According to the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaties, government debt 
is  the  consolidated  gross  debt  of  the  whole  general  government  sector  outstanding  at  the  end  of  the  year  (at 
nominal value). According to Regulation No 479/2009, government debt includes currency and deposits (AF.2), 
debt securities (AF.3) and loans (AF.4) as defined in ESA 2010. 

6 

 
 
 
                                                            
published  on  Eurostat’s  website12.  Implementing  these  action  points  will  improve 
data quality over time. 

Eurostat makes methodological visits only when it has identified significant risks or 
problems  in  the quality of the data, especially relating to  the  methods, concepts  or 
classifications used. Eurostat did not make any methodological visits in 2015. 

2.2.3. 

Specific advice by Eurostat 

Member  States  regularly  consult  Eurostat  to  clarify  various  national  accounting 
issues in relation to future or past operations. Eurostat provides advice in accordance 
with  the  existing  guidelines.  To  comply  with  the  transparency  provision  in 
Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2009,  Eurostat  publishes  its  advice13,  unless  the  Member 
State concerned raises an objection. Eurostat published 8 ex-ante letters of advice in 
2015. Eurostat has also provided advice  to  Belgium,  Greece, Poland  and Slovakia, 
for  which  these  Member  States  raised  objections  to  the  publication  because  of 
confidentiality concerns. 

2.2.4. 

Investigations into the enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area 

Regulation  (EU)  No  1173/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 
empowers  the  Commission  to  launch  an  investigation  if  there  are  suspicions  of 
manipulation of statistics due to ‘deliberate misreporting’ or ‘serious negligence’. 

On 11 July 2014, the Commission decided to launch a formal investigation into the 
possible  manipulation  of  statistics  in  the  Region  of  Valencia  (Comunidad 
Valenciana), Spain14.  

This was the first time that the Commission drew on its new powers under the ‘Six 
Pack’  economic  governance  legislation  to  investigate  suspected  manipulation  of  a 
Member State’s debt and deficit data. 

On  7  May  2015,  the  Commission  adopted  a  report15  taking  into  account  the 
observations  provided  by  Spain  and  recommended  that  the  Council  impose  a  fine. 
The report concluded that one body within the Spanish general government sector, 
the  Regional  Audit  Office  of  the  Autonomous  Community  of  Valencia,  was 
seriously negligent concerning the non-recording of health expenditure and the non-
respect  of  the  accrual  principle  in  national  accounts  (ESA  95).  This  led  to  an 
incorrect  reporting  of  the  government  deficit  data  of  Spain  to  Eurostat  in  March 
2012. The misreporting stopped in 2012. The report relates specifically to statistics 
produced by the Region of Valencia and does not call into question the accuracy of 
Spain’s national statistics. 

On  13  July  2015,  the  Council  decided  to  fine  Spain  EUR 18.93  million  for 
misrepresenting government deficit data as a result of serious negligence.  

Both the Commission decision to initiate an investigation and the Council's decision 
to  impose  a  fine  was  challenged  by  Spain  before  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the 
European  Union.  By  order  of  3  September  2015  in  Case  T-676/14,  the  General 

See: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/government-finance-statistics/excessive-deficit-

See: 

12  
procedure/eurostat-edp-visits-to-member-states 
13 
states 
14 
15 
region-Valencia-Spain.pdf  

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/government-finance-statistics/methodology/advice-to-member-

C(2014) 4856 final. 
See:  http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/1015035/2041365/Report-on-manipulation-of-statistics-in-

7 

 
 
                                                            
Court dismissed the action for annulment of the Commission's decision16. The action 
for annulment of the Council's decision is still pending17. 

2.2.5.  Recent methodological issues 

As  usual,  Eurostat  assessed  the  proper  application  of  the  ESA  2010  rules,  in 
particular  in  view  of  its  latest  decisions  in  accordance  with  Article  10(2)  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2009.  These  decisions  are  included  in  the  Manual  on 
Government Deficit and Debt (MGDD), the latest version of which was published in 
August 201418. The new version of the MGDD (2016 edition) will be published in 
the first quarter of 2016, and will include chapters brought in line with ESA 2010, 
reflecting  the  results  of  the  task  force  on  methodological  issues  carried  out  during 
2015. 

In 2015, Eurostat continued to provide to the Member States additional clarifications 
on  the  accounting  rules  for  the  EDP  and  government  finance  statistics.  These 
explanatory  documents  including  ‘The  statistical  recording  of  EU  budgetary 
contributions, following an amendment to the Own Resources Regulation’ published 
on  17  March  2015  as  well  as  the  methodological  guidance  note  on  'The  impact  of 
energy  performance  contracts  on  government  accounts’  complement  the  general 
rules  of  ESA  2010.  Eurostat  releases  guidance  notes,  after  consulting  the  Member 
States. 

2.2.6.  Consistency with the underlying government accounts 

The  notification  deadlines  of  1  April  and  1  October  set  by  Regulation  (EC) 
No 479/2009  were  introduced  in  order  to  ensure  consistency  with  the  underlying 
annual and quarterly government sector accounts, as reported to Eurostat in various 
ESA transmission tables. Eurostat systematically checks that EDP notifications  are 
consistent  with  the  underlying  government  sector  accounts.  For  example,  total 
government expenditure and revenue should be consistent with the reported deficit 
figure. However, the deadline by which euro area countries must report provisional 
data  for  quarterly  general  government  financial  accounts  is  set  before  the  EDP 
notification at t+85 days19. 

EDP data are generally consistent with the reported ESA 2010 government accounts, 
although there  are some  concerns both  over balance sheets for financial assets and 
liabilities  (stocks)  and  quarterly  financial  accounts  of  general  government. 
Inconsistencies  exist  for  Bulgaria,  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Ireland,  Greece, 
France, Luxembourg and Slovakia. 

At the level of net financial transactions, significant differences remained for Greece 
for  a  number  of  years.  In  this  context,  Eurostat  has  withdrawn  ESA  table  27  from 
publication  and  amended  the  figures  for  Greece  used  for  the  euro  area  and  EU28 
aggregates. 

The EDP data on surplus/deficit reported by the Member States are fully consistent 
with the annual data on government expenditure and revenue (ESA table 2). 

16  
17  
18 
19  

ECLI:EU:T:2015:602 
Case C-521/15 
See: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-GQ-14-010 
‘t’ is the reported year. 

8 

 
 
                                                            
In  2011-2014,  data  on  quarterly  non-financial  accounts  for  general  government 
(ESA table 25) were fully consistent for all Member States, except Denmark. 

The  data  on  annual  debt  and  the  quarterly  government  debt  (ESA  table  28)  match 
perfectly for all Member States. 

2.3. 

Publication 

2.3.1.  Publication of headline figures and detailed reporting tables 

Article  14(1)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 479/2009  states:  'The  Commission  (Eurostat) 
shall provide the actual government deficit and debt data for the application of the 
Protocol  on  the  excessive  deficit  procedure,  within  three  weeks  after  the  reporting 
deadlines […]. That provision of data shall be effected through publication.' 

Eurostat published the government deficit and debt data on its website on 21 April 
201520 and on 21 October 201521 together with all the reporting tables22 notified by 
the  Member  States.  Since  February  2012,  Eurostat  has  regularly  published  a  press 
release  on  quarterly  Maastricht  debt,  at  approximately  t+115  days.  Since 
February 2014,  Eurostat  has  also  published  a  press  release  on  quarterly  general 
government deficit. 

Under Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, Member States shall make public their actual 
data  on  deficit  and  debt.  All  Member  States  publish  deficit  and  debt  figures  at 
national  level.  Most  Member  States  have  informed  Eurostat  that  they  publish  all 
their  EDP  tables.  Six  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Poland 
and  Slovakia)  publish  only  some  of  the  reporting  tables  and  one  Member  State, 
France, does not publish any of the EDP tables at national level. 

2.3.2.  Reservations on the quality of data 

October 2015 

Austria:  Eurostat  expressed  a  reservation  on  the  quality  of  the  data  reported  by 
Austria  in  relation  to  an  insufficient  adherence  to  the  accrual  rules  of  recording  of 
expenditure and revenue, as required in ESA 2010, notably at the budgetary central 
government  level  ("Bund").    Currently,  a  significant  number  of  transactions  are 
recorded on a cash basis in national accounts. This situation creates uncertainty on 
the quality of the figures and the risk that data will be revised in the April 2016 EDP 
exercise.  

Eurostat also removed the reservation on Bulgaria and Portugal from the April 2015 
EDP News Release. 

April 2015 

Bulgaria:  Eurostat  expressed  a  reservation  on  the  quality  of  the  data  reported  by 
Bulgaria in relation to the sector classification of the Deposit Insurance Fund and to 
the  impact  on  the  government  deficit  of  the  fund's  repayment  of  the  guaranteed 
deposits in the Corporate Commercial Bank.  

20 
2976-4aef-b6ce-af19bde6a236 
21 
3bb0-4eb0-b641-d420af17be5b 
22  
notification-tables 

See: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6796757/2-21042015-AP-EN.pdf/2a3922ae-

See: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7036737/2-21102015-AP-EN.pdf/22806a48-

See: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/government-finance-statistics/excessive-deficit-procedure/edp-

9 

 
 
                                                            
Portugal: Eurostat  expressed  a reservation on the  quality of the government deficit 
data  for  2014  due  to  uncertainties  of  the  statistical  impact  of  the  capitalisation  of 
Novo Banco in 2014.  

2.3.3.  Amendments to the reported data 

Eurostat has not amended the data reported by Member States in either the April or 
the October 2015 EDP notifications. 

2.3.4.  Publication of metadata (inventories23) 

Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2009  specifies  that  the  EDP  inventories  are  among  the 
statistical information to be provided by Member States to enable Eurostat to check 
compliance  with  ESA  rules.  The  Regulation  also  requires  EDP  inventories  to  be 
published nationally. 

Eurostat has updated the format of EDP inventories, making structural changes and 
requiring  more  detailed  information.  The  new  inventory  template  adapted  to  ESA 
2010  has  been  agreed  and  Eurostat  and  Member  States  were  set  to  publish  these 
inventories by the end of 201524. Progress has been slower than expected and only 
less than half of Member States provided the revised inventories by the deadline. 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Eurostat  acknowledges  overall  improvements  in  the  consistency  and  completeness 
of  the  reported  data.  Nevertheless,  some  issues  persist,  and  Member  States  should 
step up efforts to improve the coverage and quality of the trade credits reported and 
to  reach  the  same  quality  levels  obtained  when  calculating  other  government 
liabilities. 

Some  consistency  problems  with  quarterly  financial  accounts  persist  for  some 
Member  States.  Work  to  update  the  EDP  inventories  has  also  been  slower  than 
expected. 

In 2015, Eurostat expressed three reservations on the quality of the data reported by 
Member  States.  These  concerned  Bulgaria  and  Portugal  for  the  April  2015  EDP 
notification  and  Austria  for  the  October  2015  EDP  notification.  Eurostat  withdrew 
its reservations for Bulgaria and Portugal in October 2015. 

The revisions of past data on deficit and debt were mainly explained by the source 
data updates and reclassification of units inside the general government sector. 

Overall, Eurostat concludes that the quality of the reporting of fiscal data continued 
to improve in 2015. In general, Member States provided better information, both in 
EDP notification tables and in other relevant statistical returns. 

23 
underlying government accounts. 
24   
inventories  

Inventories of the methods, procedures and sources used to compile actual deficit and debt data and the 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/government-finance-statistics/excessive-deficit-procedure/edp-

10