Why does the Commission keep getting it so wrong?

An interesting spat has developed between the EU and the US. The EU is considering blocking foreign bidders from chasing certain public contracts. It criticizes the US saying that only €178 billion of public contracts can be awarded to non-US companies. The US has countered this by stating categorically that the EU Commission figures are wrong, and that the true figure is €302.7 billion.

With the recent revelation that the Commission was €10 billion short last year, and is paying last year's bills from this year's budget, we have to ask "why do they keep getting it so wrong?"

I tabled a formal question to the Commission on this matter this morning.