Methods: cases and population were from the who repertory. we selected causes in eu27 countries by up to fourth code- character of icd10 -on the eurostat website were not available-. case counts were grouped into ill- defined, unspecific, less specific (the latter two, in inaccurate), and judicial (inaccurate external causes) categories, based on literature and expertise. we calculated age-adjusted rates to the standard european population by country, sex, period (2006-, 2011- and 2016-2020), and quality category. we tested the comparative mortality ratio (cmr) of each country to the european union median by a bayesian approach, at 5% statistical significance. we plotted the rates proportion of each quality category in its all causes. results: we included 25 countries. some did not report all years. six countries showed >19% for ill-defined causes and 3 member states had <5% in both sex and last period. in inaccurate, for the same time period and sex, average pointed 10% with a range of 3-19%. in the same period, cmr exceeded significantly the eu median in 19 and 18 countries for women and men, respectively; and exceeded in unspecific causes in 12 countries for women and men. discussion: literature showed that incorrect causes of death were random distributed. probably major causes were biased and underestimated. conclusions: quality of cause of death is a useful indicator of mortality statistics reliability. quality indicators targeted national gaps across eu. we need a new eu task force on statistics of causes of death in accordance with the xxi century. key messages: quality indicators of causes of death statistics targeted national gaps across the european union. the statistics of death causes underestimated the main causes of death in the european union