Government Finance Statistics (GFS) form the basis for fiscal monitoring in Europe, most notably for the statistics related to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). The EDP is established in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and specified in the Stability and Growth Pact. The Member States report data related to the EDP to the Commission (Eurostat) which, in turn, is responsible for providing the data to the Council.

European GFS, including the statistics for the EDP, are produced in accordance with Regulation (EU) 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA 2010) , the EU manual for national accounts, which in September 2014 replaced the previous version of the national accounting framework ESA 95. It is supplemented by further interpretation and guidance from Eurostat, in particular the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt .

Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as amended requires that Member States report government deficit/surplus (hereinafter deficit) and debt data related to the EDP twice per year: before 1 April and 1 October for the preceding four calendar years and a forecast for the current year. The data are reported in harmonised tables . These tables are designed specifically to provide a consistent framework, with a link to national budgetary aggregates and between the deficit and changes in the debt.