EU officials to discuss case of ex statistics chief Georgiou

The case of Greece’s former statistics chief Andreas Georgiou, who was convicted earlier this month of “breach of duty” for having failed to tell statistics agency ELSTAT’s board that he had sent Greek fiscal data for 2009 to its European counterpart Eurostat, will be examined by the upcoming Euro Working Group (which prepares decisions at meetings of the eurozone’s finance ministers), Kathimerini understands.

Comments made by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to Die Zeit newspaper last week, saying that the Greek government did not question the data on which the nation’s adjustment program is based, are believed to have appeased the country’s EU partners, who view the case as a politically motivated trial intended to restore the economic reputation of previous administrations.

The Euro Working Group is set to take place on September 4 ahead of a Eurogroup meeting scheduled for September 15.