HELLENIC REPUBLIC HELLENIC STATISTICAL AUTHORITY GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF STATISTICAL SURVEYS DIVISION OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS Piraeus, 28/ 1 /2014 ANNOUNCEMENT On press reports referring to the impact of the new ESA 2010 on the GDP of Greece With regard to recent press reports referring to the impact of the implementation of the new European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010) on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Greece, the Hellenic Statistical Authority announces the following: On 26 June 2013, Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union – ESA 2010 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (L 174/1). In 2014, the new European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010) will replace the current ESA 1995, in order to bring the national accounts into line with the new economic environment, advances in methodological research and user needs. The European Union will fully move to ESA 2010 in September 2014, when the data transmission programme, from Member States to Eurostat, included in the ESA 2010 Regulation enters into application. Therefore, national accounts data will then be compiled across the European Union based on the new methodology. This adaptation of the system of accounts is not only European, but world-wide. Europe's ESA 2010 is the sister of SNA 2008, which is in the process of being implemented all around the world. A dedicated section on ESA 2010 on the Eurostat website can be found at the following link: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/esa_2010/introduction The estimates that appeared in the media during the previous days and refer to the impact of the implementation of the new ESA 2010 on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Greece are not estimates made by Eurostat or by ELSTAT. They are estimates reflecting the views of the columnists. It could also be mentioned that the impact of the implementation of ESA 2010 will be on the level of GDP, and not on trends as presented in the above media reports. It should be noted that the tasks undertaken by ELSTAT for the implementation of ESA 2010 have been underway since 2013 and the results of the re-estimation of GDP on the basis of ESA 2010 will be disseminated to users and the broader public alike by means of a Press Release, which will be published by ELSTAT on 10 October 2014, in accordance to ELSTAT’s press release calendar.