Commission voices concern over conviction of former Greek data chief
The case of Greece’s ex-statistics chief who was found guilty of a breach of National Statistics Authority (ELSTAT) regulations duty will be examined by European Union member-states at the next Eurogroup, a European Commission spokeswoman responsible for economic affairs said Wednesday.
“What is important to [the Commission] is that the independence of ELSTAT is protected in line with the law and that people who do their jobs are also protected in line with the law,” Annika Breidthardt, the Commission’s coordinating spokeswoman for economic and monetary affairs, told a news conference Wednesday.
“That’s why we follow these developments with concern,” she added.
The court issued the suspended sentence for the 57-year-old Andreas Georgiou after finding him guilty of breaching regulations of ELSTAT by failing to inform its governing board about the release of budget deficit data in 2010.
