Low birth rate, the reason for demographic crisis, is influenced by several factors. This phenomenon can be met in all technologically developed countries of the world.
| Siim Kallas | Presentation in the Riigikogu at the 1st Reading of the Draft State Budget Act 2000 |
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| Kalle Jürgenson | State Budget 2000, What and Why? |
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| Olev Raju | Commentaries on the State Budget 2000 |
| Madis Võõras | Estonia on the Way to Full Membership of the European Space Agency |
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| Ene Ergma | Estonia Has Become a Space State |
| Urve Läänemets | A Good Teacher Should Be Ready to Learn Also from the Pupils |
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| Külli Eichenbaum | Using the Local Peculiarities of Old Võromaa |
Low birth rate, the reason for demographic crisis, is influenced by several factors. This phenomenon can be met in all technologically developed countries of the world.
In 2004, Estonia carried out a thorough reform of the parental benefit system, as a result of which a uniform and small childcare allowance was replaced by a parental benefit depending on the parents’ previous salary.
During the last 73 years, since 1950, the population on the Earth has increased by 3.26 times, but this process will reverse in the current century.
Comparing the changes that have taken place in the distribution of population in Estonia over the past 24 years, noteworthy patterns can be seen that reflect the overall evolution and movement of society.
In 2011, Finland’s total fertility rate was 1.87 children per woman, but it has been falling steadily and was only 1.26 children per woman last year – fewer than ever recorded.
The Unit of Family Studies at the University of Tartu was active for more than 20 years since the end of the 1960s. During this time, around ten surveys (in the form of questionnaires) were conducted, and 10 collections of research papers and a number of pedagogically oriented publications, as well as articles in other journals were published.
The article gives an overview of the publishing of statistical publications.
The Estonian green transition policy needs economic realism to ensure the viability and competitiveness of industry. More than 1000 organisations, including the Estonian Chemical Industry Association, have joined an appeal to EU leaders to support a European Industrial Deal that has ambitions equal with the European Green Deal, highlighting the challenges relating to high energy prices and raw material supply.
The Estonian industry is going through hard times because it is necessary to deal with the consequences of major crises: all inputs to production, from raw materials to wages, have become more expensive.
The data of platform Station of the Baltic Mediamonitoring Group (BMMG) show that industry is addressed around 20,000 times a year. If we look at the content of coverage, we can see that there is a lot of talk about the local food industry. And in the coverage of industry, politicians, leaders of representative associations and bank economists were mentioned the most.
In 2023, goods were exported from Estonia for EUR 18.2 billion at current prices, and imported for EUR 21.2 billion. In comparison to 2022, exports decreased by 16% and imports by 17%. The trade deficit amounted to EUR 3 billion.
Keiu Telve writes about the study commissioned by the Estonian Employers’ Confederation which mapped the attitudes of managers and owners of Estonian industries regarding innovation and business development.
The global security situation has become unpredictable, and the turnover and exports of the defence and space industry companies are growing.
Estonian industries and the country as a whole face limitations in their development due to a lack of ambition. The hunger for progress that once drove us has now been replaced by frugality, and the pursuit of achievement has given way to contentment. However, without economic growth, we cannot address the increasing needs and aspirations of our society.
The Constitution has served Estonia well, there has been no constitutional crisis. However, a parliamentary crisis is obvious in 2023.
The article examines the historical experience of Estonian statehood and the role of local government in today’s world of crises, as well as future directions.
The analysis of the state reform by the Ministry of Finance in 2023 provides a good opportunity to reflect on its progress, developments, challenges, and future possibilities.
Like all areas of policy, governance as a whole needs development.
A sensible balance of powers (cooperation and coordinated powers) between the Government (Prime Minister) and the institution of the President of the Republic developed as the Constitution of 1992 entered into force but after the term of office of Lennart Meri it has gone out of hands.
This article gives an overview of the advantages and challenges of experimental policy making.
The concept of a smart city is open to many interpretations and has changed over time.
Estonia’s energy sector is at a stage where we are facing a number of choices and challenges that require quick decisions, but it is also important to keep the focus on long-term strategies and targets.
Oil shale from Virumaa has dominated the Estonian energy sector for more than 60 years, or the entire period for which Statistics Estonia has data. Oil shale production peaked in 1980 and reached its lowest level in 1999, after which mining increased again, but it has not reached Soviet-era level any more.
When Moscow launched a full-scale war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Eu-ropean countries were not ready to quickly give up importing oil and its products, as well as natural gas, from Russia.
It is high time Estonia understood that the climate crisis is a global problem and not a local debate that can be used to serve your own interests.
I am neither a politician nor an entrepreneur, but I am a qualified engineer and a professor. Moreover, I hold one of the eight technology professorships formed in the public interests in Tallinn University of Technology, the Professorship of Oil Shale Technology. And speaking as a scientist, I would like to see Estonia consider and assess new approaches to using oil shale in our energy sector. Why?
The Resolution of the Riigikogu that 100% of the grid electricity and 65% of all en-ergy consumed in Estonia will be generated from renewable sources by 2030 cannot realistically be met.
The European Union has set a course towards achieving climate-neutrality by 2050. In 2022, nuclear energy was the dominant type of power generation in Europe. What have been the developments in nuclear energy in the world and what are we doing in Estonia? What are the fears regarding nuclear energy and what are the major advantages of this type of energy?
Ida-Viru County has a major role to play in achieving Estonia’s green transition goals. As part of the Green Transition in Communities project funded by the Uni-versity of Tartu, Narva College studied the attitude of entrepreneurs in Ida-Viru County towards the green transition. The study was carried out in cooperation with the Ida-Viru Entreperenurship Centre (Ida-Virumaa Ettevõtluskeskus, IVEK).
In May 2022, KPMG and Finantsakadeemia were given the task of dealing with the issue further, including forecasting the financial and economic impacts of this option on the relevant businesses, as well as examining the related legislative-regulatory background.
The sudden hike in the price of electricity in 2021 and 2022 caused a stir in Estonia and made electricity a key issue in discussions on economic policy.
The aim of this essay is to try to find a way to understanding good education. The starting point is the recognition that in a fast-changing world, the organisation of education seems to stand still, and it is explained by arguing that the real qualities of good education remain unchanged through time.
There are 18 institutions of higher education in Estonia. Their task is to offer high-er education based on cutting-edge scientific knowledge, to train specialists and managers with higher education in specialities necessary for the state and society, to be innovation engines, to engage in ethnic sciences, to make a contribution to world science, and to carry out a knowledge transfer into society.
Education is special. Sociologists of education have known this for a long time. This means that students from high socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to benefit from generously and universally funded education.
Countries are not defined only by their population numbers and territory, but also by the level of human development they exhibit and the quality with which this is managed.
Reforms in education are provoked by four main development trends – new technologies, personalisation, internationalisation, and change in societal expectations. Technology-based business models are coming to the forefront, complementing the contemporary education landscape but also competing with it. The broader introduction of non-academic certificates blurs the lines between higher education and other types of post-secondary education.
The article analyses the issue of the reputation of vocational education through the prism of social ecology.
The ideology of Putin’s Russia relies for a large part on the old Tsarist stock that can be summed up in three words – Tsar, Orthodoxy and nationalism/native land. Russia is a special country, and it is home to a special people that is different to Europe, and only Russia has the right regime.
In mutually dependent energy relations, countries are facing difficult choices if one of the parties of the relationship feels impunity and the market is having trouble with regulating dramatic price fluctuations or supply shortages.
The economic power struggle between the USA and China has been going on for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the new Russian aggression have made international strategic economic dependencies an even more acute problem.
Estonia has chosen the right path in developing comprehensive national defence, and the rescue network as an essential part of it must be ready for any crisis, including war.
The threat of military attack against Estonia is currently low but we must nevertheless not discard the possibility that Russia might decide to attack the Baltic region. The civilian population still often bears the brunt of military conflicts, falling victim to attacks either directly or indirectly, and suffering the consequences of the damage to the infrastructure.
* The article is based on the master’s thesis defended by the author in the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences in 2021.
The library as the centre of reliable information has a relevant and necessary role in preventing the spread of disinformation and helping reach the evidence-based information.
When I started to study climatology in 1958, nobody could predict that climate would gather such popularity or become such a threatening force to humankind as it is now.
The European Green Deal is based on the underlying idea that our further develop-ment can only take place in a manner that remains within planetary boundaries and contributes to curbing climate change and keeping global warming within safe limits, stops biodiversity loss and ensures the protection of ecosystems.
Annela Anger-Kraavi was interviewed by Riigikogu Toimetised about the current state of climate negotiations.
According to the Global Risks Report published by the World Economic Forum, extreme weather conditions, failure of climate action and human-induced environmental damage are the most likely risks of the next decade.
Simplified views like “the new technologies will solve all problems” or “we will raise the awareness of consumers” are not enough for meeting the ecological and social sustainability challenges faced by our society.
The climate policy of the European Union, high electricity prices and the challenge of proper forest management have raised questions in the Estonian society about why we need green transition and if it can be achieved at all.
In Estonia, the tradition of exploring local mineral resources is more than a hundred years old.
The article provides a survey of the ongoing green transition in the energy sector both in Estonia and in the world more widely.
The green transition through the prism of the construction industry is simply a well built and efficient house, park, city street, or block that is in total harmony with its surroundings.
In December 2019, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented to the public the European Green Deal.
Oil shale has been a unique primary resource for Estonia as well as a pillar of energy security; however, the impact of the oil shale industry has made Estonia one of the most CO2 intense countries in relation to the GDP in the whole European Union.
The coronavirus crisis hit the whole world unexpectedly. We had been used to seeing natural disasters, local theatres of war and outbreaks of infectious diseases in developing countries (Zika and Ebola viruses).
For nearly three centuries already, the government of Estonia has been fighting against epidemics.
The global COVID-19 pandemic truly started to affect Estonia in the beginning of March 2020, when the first local cases of the virus were diagnosed. To support the Government of the Republic in managing the crisis, the Prime Minister formed the COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board, whose key task is to regularly analyse the data on the spreading of the virus, and compile data-based reports and forecasts.
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus epidemic a pandemic. In Estonia, the first case of infection was confirmed on 27 February 2020. The Board of the Family Physicians Association of Estonia heard about it on the same day, in a train, on their way to the conference of family doctors in Narva. On 12 March 2020, the Health Board of Estonia announced that the number of cases had increased to 27 and the virus was spreading locally. In the late evening of that day, emergency situation was declared in Estonia. It was to last until 1 May. On 25 March, the first death case due to COVID-19 in Estonia was reported.
The COVID-19 pandemic meant for us a crisis where one of the key words was confusion. The emergency situation that was declared on 12 March 2020 made many people compare the situation with other crises, among which war always also looms as a potential threat. The rhetorical question was: “If a healthcare crisis makes us buckle, then how would we as a society deal with war?”
Even during the crises, including epidemics, restricting of fundamental rights has to be justified, instead of justifying not restricting, or allowing the rights or freedoms that are granted by the Constitution.
COVID-19 vaccines were taken into use quicker than any earlier vaccine. This was the appropriate response of the health science and industry to the pandemic, and among other things, it also shows the possibilities provided by targeted cooperation in an optimal financial and logistical environment.
The COVID-19 epidemic has set an unprecedented challenge to health care systems as well as societies as a whole around the world. However, the molecular-epidemiological progress has also reached a point where the whole genome sequencing of the virus permits us to conduct analyses that had remained out of our reach during earlier epidemics.
The first COVID-19 case in Estonia was registered on 26 February 2020. One year later, in spring 2021, over 100,000 people have been diagnosed and over 1,000 deaths have been registered in connection with COVID-19.
Although epidemics are bound to recur with a certain regularity, the humanity was not prepared for a wave of this magnitude and global spread. As a consequence of this epidemic, the economy has suffered through infected or self-quarantined emp-loyees not being able to work, anti-virus measures hindering the normal functioning of the economy, and the crisis-induced uncertainty affecting the behaviour and fu-ture hopes of the people, the businesses and the public sector.
The purpose of the study was to give an overview of distance learning in the Estonian general education schools through the experiences of the pupils and teachers, brin-ging out its lessons for the education system.
Teleworking is a real and lasting form of working that is no longer an unattainable dream or a way of coping with the global pandemic. It has become a necessity, it is now a part of daily life. The need for flexible working relations has been discussed for years, but unfortunately, it has remained at the level of various draft legislation or protocols.
In Estonia, nearly fifty documents direct policy shaping and strategic development at the government level in more than 17 fields.
The Government of the Republic initiated preparation of the strategy “Estonia 2035” on 8 March 2018. The General Part of “Estonia 2035” constitutes a strategic development document that pursuant to Article 20(1) of the State Budget Act has to be approved by the Riigikogu.
Historically, fiscal policy and public finances have been surrounded by many sophisticated concepts, myths and inaccurate interpretations. In the case of economic developments, it is fairly clear that four-percent growth is better than two-percent growth, while in the case of budget deficit and national debt burden the good-bad scale is insufficient and the answer generally depends on the particular situation.
The strategy “Estonia 2035” gives the priority over the next 15 years to the compatibility between the labour market and people’s skills.
Over the last decade, life expectancy in Estonia has grown faster than the EU average. At the same time, the increase in healthy life years has ground to a halt. This means that although people live longer, illnesses and health related causes limit their participation on the labour market and increase the health care costs for the state.
At present, co-creative governance seems to be more complicated than ever before. The crisis that is changing the world contains a billion intricate problems, but there is a lack of trust.
In my article, I assess the vision document “Estonia 2035” (2020) from four aspects: the feasibility of the strategy, the role of the digital transition, the role of the innovation within the context of “Estonia 2035” and citizens’ expectations to the Riigikogu. “Estonia 2035” expressly describes the dream destination.
Spatial planning in Estonian towns has followed a fairly unruly path since the 1990s, with no broader vision to guide it. This has made the towns more inefficient and lowered the quality of their spaces.
The development of technology and innovation usually go hand in hand. If we want both the government and the private sector to provide better services to the public, it is necessary to find good and safe solutions for data processing.
Over the next decades, personal mobility is facing huge changes: because of developments in mitigating climate change, technological innovation, ageing of the population, but also the consumer and mobility habits of the Y-generation. The main challenges are linked to the more sustainable and environmental nature of mobility.
The increase of the importance of China in global economy and politics is strongly connected with developing of digital platforms. This is reflected in the painful reactions of the United States in regard to the digital infrastructure company Huawei and the social media application TikTok. It is necessary to pay more attention to China’s investments into the European digital platforms and into platform-type companies in the wider sense.
In 2017–2018, the Foresight Centre created three sets of scenarios: on governance and e-governance, labour market, and productivity. What could we conclude from these sets today – can we already see where we are coming from, and where we are going?
The discussion of any topic in the European Union starts with the question: what is the legal basis here? Which article of the Treaty on European Union provides the framework for joint action? In other words, what jurisdiction have the supreme decision makers in the EU – the Member States – granted the EU institutions?
* The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.
The end of this political cycle in Europe (2019–2024) coincides with an historical occasion to celebrate the twenty years since the Eastern Enlargement of the European Union.
* The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the few truly common European Union policies, having a history of more than 50 years. The goals of the CAP have remained the same across decades. In essence, they can be summarized as follows: to produce more food with greater profitability while guaranteeing stable food supply and affordable prices. This means that the underlying principle of the CAP is food security.
By leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom became free of its decades-long hesitations and doubts regarding the EU membership and the EU developments.
‘There are no good times, there are no bad. The present is all there is to be had. What starts will never come to an end. Neither beauty nor ugliness is part of the plot’.
With these verses, the Estonian poet Artur Alliksaar has perfectly captured the nature of time and reality. It is especially topical in these trying times of global virus outbreak, but also relevant for the real-time economy concept.
The key words of the European Parliament elections in May 2019 were increased turnout, political fragmentation, and stable support for populist, extremist, and Euro-sceptic forces.
The European Parliament, a globally unique directly elected international representative body, is the carrier of European values and identity. It has kept pace with important changes in Europe, often being the initiator and trendsetter in them.
The article opens the context of the European Green Deal.
* I use the term "Green Deal" to denote "European Green Deal for the European Union (EU) and its citizenns" (European Commission 2019a)
The article analyses aspect of research funding in Estonia.
When the University of Tartu was established in 1632, the Western European progressive scientific worldview spread to the territory of what today is the Republic of Estonia. At the same time, that gave an impetus to higher education becoming more widespread in the region on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.
The classic academies have been established with a twofold goal: to be resolutely committed to the advancement of science and to advise government authorities. In order to give adequate and timely advice, it is important to be engaged in the shaping of policy on all levels, starting from discussions of topics and goals of political parties. Several members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences (EAS) have contributed to active policy-making over decades, among other things, through performing the duties of the speaker of the Riigikogu and serving as ministers or parliament members.
State reform is an immanent, i.e. an inherent phenomenon associated with any type of national independence. After all, a country will never be complete; this is even more true for a small developing country with a catch-up economy and an ambition to significantly improve the quality of life.
The article explores the challenges connected to the study committees of the Riigikogu, using the example of the State Reform Study Committee formed by the 13th Riigikogu (2015–2019).
The Resolution of the Riigikogu “The Fundamentals of the State Reform and Good Administration”, adopted on 20 February 2019, sets out seven general principles that primarily the members of the Riigikogu should keep in mind when initiating draft legislation in the Riigikogu in the future.
Concerning the state reforms and the related debates in Estonia, it is important to take note not only of the choices made, or the choices that the political powers and interest groups mainly wish to make, but also the choices that have not been discussed.
The record proportion of votes cast electronically in the Riigikogu elections is the result of the voters’ confidence in this way of voting.
In Estonia, judicial control has been applied to administrative rulings for the past one hundred years. The 1992 Constitution ensures the protection of the individual rights in separate administrative courts.
During the last 25 years, the Estonian legislation has been characterised by frequent and fundamental changing of the laws. At the same time, the Constitution of Estonia has been amended very little, only for five times.
Lessons for the World Bank?
The article assesses the impact of the Estonian administrative-territorial reform of 2017 on settlement and regional economic development.
When we are concerned about the size and welfare of the population of Estonia, for many people, this concern has a common subtext or principal tone – how are the Estonians doing, the native inhabitants of this corner of the Earth, the small nation of less than a million? Throughout the duration of its existence, a threat has been hanging over its head – to be or not to be, can it preserve the population size needed to preserve its own culture, so that the neighbours and the immigrants arriving here will not assimilate it?
This article presents the main results if an integrated long-term employment and population projection for Estonia until the end of the 21st century.
Over the next decades, the Estonian state and society will have to adapt to population ageing, which will be the most significant demographic change with far-reaching implications across several domains of social life.
The article deals with the interconnections between the development of population and society’s capability to innovate.
* Peer-reviewed article.
Besides the number of population, the connections of people with Estonia are also important in population policy.
My goal in writing this article was to examine motherhood from the perspective of the expectations of the society, as well as the individual experiences of a woman and her lifeworld.
* Peer-reviewed article.
One of the innovative focuses of population policy is the inclusion of empowerment and quality of life. The article discusses these issues, proceeding from the point of view of essential citizenship, or the subjectness of people in the society and the state.
Ten years have passed from the great economic recession of 2008. Although the economy started to recover rapidly from the first stage of the crisis, it became clear in a couple of years that it had revealed several significant deficiencies in the functioning of the European Economic and Monetary Union and the common currency euro.
This article deals with the development trends that await us in the coming 20–25 years. On the basis of these trends, an overview of the skills and knowledge that will probably be necessary on the future labour market is drafted.
* The article was written with the support of the financing of the study of the Foresight Centre “Supply of Labour Force in Estonia: Long-term Perspective” and RITA1 project “Migration dependency and integration challenges for Estonia, employers, communities and educational system”.
The development of economy in Estonia during the last two decades has brought us among the developed countries, but future economic progress will not take place by itself. In order to achieve that, we need structural changes in business sector, and political decisions to support those changes. The article highlights ten activities that might speed up the development of Estonia. Five of them concern business, and five are related to government.
The Financing and Organisation Task Force for Research and Higher Education was formed on the initiative of the Research and Development Council and operated with the support of the Government Office. One of its tasks was providing an assessment of the current situation of the competitiveness of Estonia’s research and higher education system and submitting proposals on how to improve the situation.
The article asks what the possibilities and stimuli for moving towards knowledge economy are in Estonia today, and how to create such stimuli. Estonia can choose between market-based and coordinated market economy models, and in the case of the latter, it has to be decided whether the coordinator is the state, the social partners or large corporations. International comparison shows that coordinated systems develop more rapidly, and it seems that as a result of the market-based model, education, research and production systems all develop in their own way in Estonia.
Estonia could become a pioneer of bio-economy if we increase the use of renewable resources to replace the non-renewable ones. Forest is for our country what oil is to some others, and it is up to us to make wise choices in managing this resource.
Alcohol excise duty has several purposes. The most important of them is restricting consumption through increasing the retail price, but the revenues of the state budget, suppressing of shadow economy and the problems of border trade are also relevant factors. Several factors (among other things, the prices in neighbouring countries and the competitiveness of companies) have to be simultaneously taken into account in establishing optimal excise duty rates, and if a mistake is made with the level of the excise duty rates, it will be accompanied by negative consequences in the society.
The article compares three possible paradigms for explaining the processes taking place in global economy and macroregions: globalisation-centred, geopolitical and geo-economic paradigms. Their focus topics are dealt with, and the limits of their explanatory capacities for comprehending the processes that are going on are discussed. It is found that although globalisation continues, the normative type of globalisation-centred approach, which requires that the states move to the background is not longer sufficient. Business and technology centred globalisation has setbacks, it can be noticed that the states have started to make stronger attempts to curb globalisation (neo-mercantilism, certain protectionist tendencies, in Ian Bremmer’s terminology: gated globalisation).
* The article is written in cooperation of the author and the Foresight Centre of the Riigikogu.
Director of International Centre for Defence and Security Sven Sakkov analyses the state of world affairs and its developments since the end of the Cold War.
The article proceeds from the observance that technology is developing ever more rapidly, and applied science has an unquestionable impact on the processes in society and the lives of individuals, bringing along notable changes in the perspective of a decade, not a century. The focal research question discussed is in which sectors the emerging technologies will find military application and how much it will influence warfighting over the next 10 years.
* The article is a shorter version of the argumentative essay in English by the author, with the same title, which contains references to the sources of all statements and facts reflected here. In comparison to the original text, several sub-topics and arguments have been omitted due to restrictions on length, but on the other hand, some new ideas have been added. The presented military prospect for the use of innovative technologies is the author’s personal opinion, with a certain aim to intrigue and provoke the readers to think actively.
End of the Cold War and breaking up of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused real exhilaration in the West, and also in Russia. It was thought that now the age of great wars was over for ever in Europe, where two of the bloodiest world wars of humanity had taken place, and from then onwards, the countries would live in friendship and constructive mutual cooperation. And this is how it more or less happened during the last decade of the previous century.
Russia carries out and encourages ‘active measures’ in Europe to destabilise and confuse governments and societies. However, these are often opportunistic and shaped by local conditions. There is no grand strategy, beyond weakening the EU and NATO and creating a more conducive environment for itself.
* Galeotti, M. (2017). Controlling Chaos: How Russia manages its political war in Europe. European Council of Foreign Relations. ECFR. ‒ http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/controlling_chaos_how_russia_manages_its_political_war_in_europe
National defence is no longer merely military defence that includes the activity of the armed forces to combat conventional threats. National security and the ensuring of national security affect the whole society, and therefore all segments of the society, both the public, private and third sector, must contribute to the protection of the state.
Is Estonia doing everything possible and necessary in its national defence legislative drafting to ensure its security? Unfortunately, not sufficiently so far, considering the regulation of the activities of courts under state of emergency, especially the state of war.
Essentially the problems of the European Union are not different from the problems faced by each democratic state. There are people who enjoy the open world and also get material benefit from it. And there are people who have lost the foothold that used to seem secure, and ask – what will become of me? The European Union should help the second category of people to cope better with their lives. But unfortunately they think that this union is the cause of all their problems.
Organization of meetings and events in the Presidency country as well as laying out of the agenda and facilitating the agreements have always been the main tasks of the Presidency country of the EU. The increased number of Member-States and discussion topics has also increased the importance of the Presidency country in influencing politics throughout the EU’s history. As the number of Member-States has increased, their interests have also become more diverse. And when the European Parliament received more rights to participate in the decision-making processes the Presidency country was forced to work more actively towards finding compromises in the EU legislation. From that point onwards it went beyond merely organizing meetings.
* Responsibility for the views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Before the coming Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we would like to shed light on the digital issues that will be spoken about during the next six months and the events that deserve attention, and discuss what kind of inheritance Estonia plans to leave to the following presidencies.
We can use the public interest in the new building of the Estonian National Museum (ERM) to tell its story. This has given us an excellent opportunity to speak about the main events in the history of the Estonian nation over the last one hundred years, and more.
In 2016, the Estonian National Museum got a home of its own. For the first time in history, the Estonian National Museum has a house that has been designed and built especially for the museum. The environment that has been created for the museum gives it new possibilities for development, and it also gives us the right to ask what the significance of the Estonian National Museum is in the 21st century.
Innovation is considered one of the main driving forces of economy. Info-technological innovation as the basis and precondition of economic competitiveness is often mentioned in the national policies of Estonia, and in this context, small Estonia with its image of e-state has gained recognition. But is this enough for making a society innovative? What is the innovativeness of a society based on? What role creativity and education have, and what the historical experience of the Estonian society is in this field – these are the questions this article tries to answer.
Regional institutions of higher education have an important role not only in education and research policy, but also in the social-economic development of the whole region and shaping its long-term strategies.
In the future, the amount of digital information is going to explode, changing the role of the libraries. This will bring along new obligations and new challenges, and lead to the development of totally new services.
Dealing with the cultural heritage is always controversial. In its core lies an attempt to balance the interests of the owner with the interests of the general public in preserving the heritage. Heritage management can be successful only if it manages to grasp both the material assets that exist objectively in time and space, as well as taking an interest in the subjective categories of identity, values, and perception.
The paper entitled “Proposals for Management of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Landscapes” examines the problems related to the administration and protection of landscape, rural life and other traditional values in an era in which, even for rural populations, agriculture is being rapidly demoted to a subsidiary source of employment and income.
The nature of culture has been discussed both at its general level, as a network of traditions, values, creativity and layers of time, and in terms of fine arts and research. The article deals with national culture, a special phenomenon that combines both the original and the borrowed elements.
Studies have shown that while many indicators qualify Estonian businesses as innovative, they seem unable to convert this innovation into money. This article argues that the main reason why process innovation dominates and product innovation is low in the Estonian businesses is that meeting orders is the predominant business model among them. This means that the businesses have no contact with the end product, while their development methods mainly involve diversification of production opportunities and increase in quality and volumes. The issues of product development, supply chain management, marketing, and sales are largely ignored.
The Estonian migration policy must be managed and forward-looking. This is complicated because the preservation of the Estonian culture as well as managing in international competition must be kept in mind. The migration policy is a sensitive issue. Estonia has a numerous non-Estonian population and, through them, there is a continuous influx of “new immigrants” from the former USSR republics. Integrating them is a demanding challenge and therefore our social opinion is not very willing to listen to rational arguments.
It is a basic human right to leave one’s country freely. To enter another country freely is not. Permission is needed. It is common decency to give shelter to refugees when they are few. But one has the right to control one’s borders when there are so many refugees or other would-be immigrants that the society would crumble under their weight, or would change beyond recognition.
Social resources have so far been underestimated in Estonia, but if they were taken into use, it may bring along growth of productivity in economy and better functioning of all sectors of society. Economic activities, production, product development and marketing are actually work with people, involving them, listening to them and explaining your ideas.
When analysing the economic growth of Estonia that has slowed down, and the factors that influence the growth of productivity, it is inevitable to pay greater attention to the issues of product development. If product development is scarce, the goods produced and exported remain valued lower, and there is no movement from the raw material based economic model to the innovation model with greater added values.
In twenty-five years, Estonia has become a capable space nation. The intelligent and brave decisions of the 1990s on reorganising the network of research institutions, establishing a competition based system of research grants, introducing international expert analyses in assessing the performance indicators of research, and reshaping the decision making mechanism of higher education and research policy were instrumental in reshaping the Soviet style research system into a Western system in only a short time. Long-term strategic planning and strategic management increased state funding, and also supported the increasing presence of research in the private sector. A strong push towards the development of the research system has come from the EU Structural Funds. This has helped to create a contemporary research environment, improve the quality of research, and increase the overall volumes.
This article has two aims: to offer a theoretical approach to defiing of state identity, taking into account the context of multicultural society, and to analyse the data of the latest monitoring of the integration of Estonian society in the light of such an approach.
The Estonian Public Broadcasting Act sets nine goals for Estonian Public Broadcasting, and formulates eleven functions Estonian Public Broadcasting has to perform in order to achieve these goals.
On 28 September at 6.55 a.m., the programme director pushed the button at the control centre of the brand new TV studio of Estonian Public Broadcasting and started the fist direct broadcast of the Russian-language TV programme. The long-planned ETV+ rose into the air, with new enthusiastic pilots on board, and these pilots knew nothing yet of the number of potential passengers, and just hoped at the bottom of their hearts that the flght that had started would last a long time.
This paper sets out to provide an analysis of refugee integration policies in Sweden and Norway, by means of comparative analysis.
In 2014, the fist legislative amendments were adopted in Estonia that will change the current policy of payment of the pension for incapacity for work – starting from 2016, the conditions for payment will be changed, and the requirements of being active will be established for people with partial capacity for work who receive the benefi. The related political process has been controversial, it has brought about demonstrations of disabled people, and a petition and a memorandum were submitted to the parliament.
The universities have been studying how their alumni cope in the labour market since the beginning of the 2000s. However, a comprehensive simultaneous research covering all universities was conducted for the fist time in 2011, when the graduates of 2009 were interviewed (Eamets, Krillo, Themas 2011). The alumni study of 2012 dealt with the factors inflencing the choice of specialty, satisfaction with studies, working during studies, plans after graduation, success on the labour market and acquired competences. The assessment of foreign alumni of the higher education given in Estonia was also studied. The article focuses on two questions: 1) How do university graduates cope in the labour market? 2) To what extent are they satisfid with the studies they have completed? The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Research and the Archimedes Foundation.
Laura Kirss, Miko Kupts, Reelika Leetmaa, Märt Masso, Liina Osila, Magnus Piirits, Mari Rell, Pirjo Turk.
The Estonian population is decreasing, and consequently so is the number of people of working age. This is mostly caused by the negative natural increase rate as well as emigration.
The salient feature of the economy today is the extremely fast pace of development. It has become extremely important for businesses, organisations, regions and states alike to remain competitive and to ensure sustainability.
Estonia might lose its edge in education, which in turn would affect the competitiveness of the country, if no rapid and fundamental changes are made in the situation of teachers.
The article analyses the possibility to amend the Estonian Constitution that entered into force in 1992, and outlines an action plan for this purpose.
The article presents the organisation of work, objectives and results of the committee of experts set up by the Government in the years 1996 – 1998.
The presentation dedicated to the problems of the Constitution analyses the practice of constitutional review carried out by the Supreme Court to date.
The article provides an international perspective on the questions of corruption and the fight against this scourge.
For the first time, the Riigikogu, the Government of the Republic and the general public have at their disposal official material “An Overview of the Application of the Anti-Corruption Act in 1999”. The legislator now has feedback on how the law is interpreted and how its requirements are observed.
The full Estonian language text of the report is available on the Riigikogu homepage at: http://www.riigikogu.ee/rk_komisjonid.html#P49_3935