The European Commission adopted a decision which clarifies and reinforces the role and responsibilities of Eurostat, the EU statistical office. Through the Decision, the Commission pledges to uphold the independence of Eurostat and it's Director-General in their tasks, and ensure high-quality standards are respected for European statistics.

In order to ensure high quality, reliable and independent European statistics, the role and responsibilities of Eurostat, the EU statistical office, have been clarified and reinforced in a Decision adopted by the European Commission. Algirdas Semeta, Commissioner responsible for Statistics, highlighted in the light of this decision that immense work has been done in recent years to ensure that European statistics are credible, impartial, usable and accessible to all, and the EU has advanced towards a world-class statistical system that underpins sound policy-making and better economic governance. In April 2012, the Commission already proposed to strength the quality and credibility of EU statistics.

According to the Commission, the Decision reflects the need to strengthen the governance of European statistics, taking into account significant developments in recent years, not least the central role that Eurostat now plays in European economic governance. Also the Commission pledges to uphold the independence of Eurostat and it's Director-General in their tasks, and ensure high-quality standards are respected for European statistics.

The Decision also makes reference to Eurostat's new mandate to carry out investigations, particularly where manipulation is suspected, by applying all the powers that it has been granted. To secure public trust, a process of labelling European statistics, so as to distinguish them from other statistics, is promoted. Eurostat is responsible for monitoring and assessing the quality of data that it collects and receives, and for verifying data in the context of the EU's enhanced economic governance. It also monitors the implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice at national level.