Athens, 04 February 2010: The Minister of Finance, George Papaconstantinou, sent today to Parliament a bill rendering the statistical service independent. The draft legislation entitled "Hellenic Statistical System. Establishment of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTA) as an Independent Authority - Legal Entity under Public Law" represents a major step to restore the credibility of Greek statistical data and fiscal accounts.

Under the proposed legislation, the statistical authority of the country becomes institutionally and operationally independent. It creates a coherent framework of rules and institutions around the National Statistical System for the first time, and fully applies EU regulations on the Code of statistical practice, thereby integrating the Hellenic Statistical System into the European Statistical System.