The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) is the statistical arm of the European Commission, producing data for the European Union and promoting harmonisation of statistical methods across the member states.
Two of its particularly significant roles are producing macroeconomic data which helps guide the European Central Bank in its monetary policy for the euro, and its regional data and classification (NUTS) which guide the EU's structural policies.
Its current director-general is Günther Hanreich. His predecesor, Michel Vanden Abeele, revealed in 2004 that the Greek government finance statistics, on the basis of which the European institutions accepted Greece to join the Euro zone, had been massively falsified by Greece. (See The falsification of Greek accounts)
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