STA, 10 June 2020 - European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni has addressed a letter to Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Janša, asking him to explain the changes at the helm of Slovenia's Statistics Office, the Commission's press service confirmed for the STA on Wednesday.
The letter was sent to Janša yesterday with the aim to provide complete compliance with the principles of impartiality and professional independence of national statistics offices, the press service said.
The move comes after the government dismissed in late May director general of the Statistics Office Bojan Nastav and appointed Tomaž Smrekar acting director general. The latter will serve until a full-fledged director is appointed but no longer than six months.
Related: Was the Director of Slovenia’s Statistical Office Dismissed for Following the Law?
Earlier this month, the Statistics Council, an expert advisory body, asked the Constitutional Court to review the dismissal of Nastav.
The council is not sure which law applies in this case - the one on public sector employees, which allows the government to dismiss a top public sector employee a year after the employee started their job, or the national statistics act.
Janša said in late May that the dismissal of Nastav was necessary "due to responsiveness". "This is about a body functioning in a professional fashion, being responsive, so that we can rely on getting data tomorrow if we need it."
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