30.7.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 198/1 II (Non-legislative acts) REGULATIONS COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 679/2010 of 26 July 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as regards the quality of statistical data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, (4)  However, recent developments have also clearly demon- strated that the current governance framework for fiscal statistics still does not mitigate, to the extent necessary, Havjng regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European the risk of incorrect or inaccurate data being notified to Union, and in particular the third subparagraph of the Commission. Article 126(14) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, (5)  In this connection, and in some exceptional cases (methodological visits), the Commission (Eurostat) should have additional rights of access to a widened Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, scope of information for the needs of data quality assessment, in full compliance with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (1), of 11 March. 2009 on European statistics (*) as regards professional independence. Whereas: (6)  Therefore, in carrying out methodological visits to a (1) The credibility of budgetary surveillance crucially hinges Member State whose statistical information is under upon reliable budgetary statistics. It is of the utmost scrutiny, the Commission (Eurostat) should be entl.tl.ed importance that data reported by Member States under to have access to the accounts of government entities Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 at central, state, local and social security levels, on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit %ncludmg. the provision of yn-derlylng detailed accounting procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the 1nf0rmat10n, relevant statlst}cal surveys and question- European Community () are of high quality and naires .and further related 1pf0rmat10n, respectmg .the reliability. legislation on data protection as well as statistical confidentiality. (20 The European Union governance framework for fiscal statistics has been further developed and institutional . o . setting updated over the past years, notably with a (7)  Public accounts of.md1v.1dual ggqeral government units, view to improving the monitoring of the government as well as of public units classified outside the general accounts by the Commission (Eurostat). government sector, should be the main object of the controls, and the public accounts should be assessed in terms of their statistical use. (3)  The revised governance framework for fiscal statistics has functioned well overall and, in general, has produced a satisfactory outcome in terms of the reporting of relevant fiscal data on government deficit and debt. In particular, (8)  Member States should ensure that institutions and the Member States have predominantly demonstrated a solid record of cooperation in good faith and an operational ability to report fiscal data of high quality. () O] C 103, 22.4.2010, p. 1. () O] L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1. officials responsible for the reporting of the actual data to the Commission (Eurostat) and of the underlying government accounts fully respect the obligations related to the statistical principles. () O] L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164.