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Tieng Anh Vui
The UK government has consistently declined to provide evidence to support its claims about "benefit tourism", the European Commission has said.
Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for Employment Commissioner László Andor, told the BBC that the Commission had been asking for about three years.
He "sincerely hoped" that ministers would set the record straight, he said.
But No 10 said there was "widespread and understandable concern" over people coming to the UK to access benefits,
The Commission's intervention follows its publication of a report claiming that jobless EU migrants make up less than 5% of those claiming social benefits in most of the EU member states studied.
Some newspapers have noted that the report shows that there are more than 600,000 "non-active" EU migrants in the UK - describing them as "unemployed".
But the Commission said this figure included older schoolchildren, students, the spouses of migrant workers, and retired people.
'Cost issue'
Fewer than 38,000 were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, it added.
EU migrants continued to make a net contribution to their host countries' finances, by paying more in taxes than they received in benefits, the Commission said.
Mr Todd added that if the UK government could show there was a widespread problem, then the Commission would look at EU rules again.
He argued that it was important to deal with facts rather than perceptions.
But Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "There is an issue around access to the welfare system, around fairness as well as a cost issue."
"We don't think the current system is working, that is why we are looking at changes across the board," he said.
The government is currently conducting an audit of the cost to the NHS of "health tourism", he added.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said there was a "big question mark" over the statistics.
"I am aware that this 600,000 figure doesn't actually refer to those who are necessarily of working age over here who could actually be working," he explained.
"I don't want to get in the middle of a debate between some of the media and the EU," he told MPs on Monday.
But he strongly criticised the Commission for mounting a legal challenge to the UK government's attempts to tighten the residency restrictions on who can claim UK benefits.
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