Det centrale ærinde i denne betænkning er at opklare og fjerne misbruget i og omkring det statistiske kontor Eurostat såsom såkaldte sorte kasser, tvivlsomme forbindelser mellem ordregiver og ordretager, overtrædelse af finansforordningen, sløset håndtering af mobilitetsreglerne osv. Hvis Kommissionen havde taget Parlamentets advarsler om Eurostat i betænkningerne i februar og marts alvorligt og forsket i, hvad der ikke var i orden, og havde informeret Parlamentet om det, ville dechargen være blevet udskudt fra april til oktober.
The main issue in this report is to investigate and address the improper practices in and around the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), such as slush funds, cronyism, violations of the financial regulations, lax treatment of the mobility rules, and various other things. If the Commission had taken seriously Parliament’s warnings about Eurostat in its reports of February and March and investigated what was going on, and had informed Parliament accordingly, the discharge would have been postponed from April to October.