The article gives an overview of the impact of the intellectual history of Western republicanism on the shaping of the 1920 Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and political order in the Constituent Assembly.
| 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 |
The article gives an overview of the impact of the intellectual history of Western republicanism on the shaping of the 1920 Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and political order in the Constituent Assembly.
How did parliamentary procedural rules develop over the two years after the first free post-war elections in Estonia in March 1990?
The massive enlargement of the European Union in 2004 ushered in a fundamental change – eight out of the ten new Member States had felt the yoke of Communist totalitarianism.
* This is the 4th and last instalment in the series of articles published by Riigikogu Toimetised, where the author reminisces on the first fifteen years as an Estonian MEP (see also Riigikogu Toimetised No 42, 43, 44).
As a result of the extensive 2004 enlargement or the European Union, the Baltic Sea has to all intents and purposes become an internal sea of the Union, surrounded by eight Member States.
As a long-time Member of the European Parliament (EP), the author shares his memories of the first EP elections in Estonia and the popular attitudes in Estonia in 2004 when we joined the European Union.
My doctoral thesis Pääsemine ja häving: Demokraatia mõju Soome ja Eesti julgeolekule aastatel 1918–1948 (Salvation and Destruction: Democracy’s Impact on the Security of Finland and Estonia in 1918–1948) argues that the relationship between democracy and security can be reduced to the three classical dilemmas: freedom vs. security, freedom vs. sovereignty, and sovereignty vs. security. The aim of the article is to examine these dilemmas by providing examples from Estonian and Finnish history.
After Estonia restored its independence in 1991, the first instinct of the national leaders was to join the united Europe as soon as possible.
The article reviews the state reform initiatives and activities in Estonia over the recent years, interpreting these from the point of view of research literature on the topic. We can identify three major initiatives: by the Foundation for State Reform, the Government, and the Riigikogu.
Jüri Adams, member of four Riigikogus and a co-author of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, discusses the story of the development of the rules of procedure of the Riigikogu in his series of writings. This part is a sequel to Part I that was published in “Riigikogu Toimetised” (“Proceedings of the Riigikogu”) No. 39.
Social capital and social cohesion are underrated values because they are more complicated issues to discuss than material values, legislation, and governance and administrative structures.
Historically, Estonia has been part of the German legal space. The Estonian parliamentarism was basically established on German models. The main terminology for parliamentary activities also developed as translations of corresponding German terms. From the point of view of the Estonian language, they are not always adequate and tend to create confusion nowadays.
The article analyses what was the competence of the parliament in shaping and implementing foreign policy in the Republic of Estonia in 1918–1939 like in comparison with other institutions of state authority, and assesses whether the Parliament could perform the foreign policy tasks, obligations and rights provided by the law. During the period under discussion, several major legislative and political changes took place in the division of foreign policy competence.
* The article is based on the author’s Master’s thesis “Political and Legal Competence of the Estonian Parliament in Foreign Policy 1917–1940”, which was defended at the University of Tartu in 2018 and was awarded August Rei Scholarship in Parliamentary Studies.
Various circumstances combined enable a party in Poland to win a majority of parliamentary seats with 38 per cent of the votes. It is now using this fluke outcome to ensconce itself permanently, following the Hugo Chavez path in Venezuela. In Estonia, the largest party has rarely reached even 30 percent of the seats, and fond opinions have been voiced that Estonia’s electoral law supposedly prevents a one-party majority. This article reviews Estonia’s electoral history and the desiderata for adequate electoral rules. It presents the universal laws that connect the number and size of parties to the number of seats available, as documented in Shugart and Taagepera, Votes from Seats (2017).
In the same way as we have seen the arrival of the Internet, and how it essentially changed the existing way of communicating and even the relations between the people, the hero of World War II Marshal Montgomery saw the arrival of weapons of mass destruction, their use, and how it essentially changed the existing international security situation. This was one reason why I thought it was important to introduce the readers of Riigikogu Toimetised one chapter from his book A Concise History of Warfare. This chapter, The Nuclear Age, deals with the coming of nuclear age, and its fruits.
* Montgomery, B. L. (1968). A Concise History of Warfare. UK: George Rainbird Ltd.
The study argues that 16 and 17 year old adolescents have minimal skills and knowledge required for a competent electoral choice. This study is based on a 10-week e-course “Basics of an Active Citizen”, which was conducted from 9 January until 20 March 2017. It involved 29 students from 24 secondary schools in Estonia taking tests on required course materials and answering two reflective questions weekly. The reflection questions were designed so that it was possible to offer different answers in a personal way without contradicting the information in weekly study materials.
Based on the current experiences – on the examples of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova – it can be concluded that Russia has got a systemic approach and long-term programme for drawing “near-abroad” countries into a dependency relationship and then politically realising this dependency relationship. To this is often added the advantage in terms of distance and history over other regional great powers in the realisation of its plans. Taking into account the rise of oil and gas prices in 2016, and Russia’s strategic ambitions, it is fairly rational to expect an improvement and wider use of Russia’s imperial pattern in 2017–2018, while for many target countries the situation is already complicated as it is and offers few ways for exit. Russia’s ambitions in the development of dependent partnership and achievement of political control concern in particular Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, but they have implications also on the Baltic states in so far as these patterns can be applied also to us, should favourable conditions arise.
Like Estonia, Latvia will soon be celebrating its centenary. The notes of Kārlis Skalbe, a Latvian writer and activist from the time when the Republic of Latvia was founded, continue to be relevant to this day.
In 2016, the President of Estonia was for the first time elected at extraordinary elections. 25 years ago the authors of the Constitution of Estonia were convinced that they had managed to develop a mechanism pursuant to which the political parties have to cooperate as effectively as they can in order that the candidate would win the support of two thirds of the members of the parliament at the elections in the Riigikogu. If the political parties fail to achieve that, the elections would transfer to the electoral college, a body specially formed for the purpose of electing the President, where the required quota would be smaller, only the majority of the electoral college members who participated in voting. Namely this low quota required in the electoral college gave the authors of the Constitution the assurance that the President would be elected during the regular elections.
The geographical position and smallness of Estonia are a great possibility and at the same time also an inevitable challenge for us. Estonia is the smallest country in Europe and in the whole Western world that has managed to survive and succeed in spite of its political-geographical location.
Today, media is ever more actively and effectively used as an instrument for exerting influence on public opinion and political decisions. Non-democratic countries like Russia use media as means of propaganda in shaping ideological attitudes. Russia has also considerably increased military activities near the Baltic States, and continuously declared NATO its main enemy. Information field that distorts reality may damage the cohesion of different groups of population and create instability in the society, therefore Estonia should pay more attention to attacks targeted against the cohesion of the society, and develop psychological defence and resistance against anti-Estonian propaganda activities. In order to ensure the security of the society and the state and the sense of security of the people, and to prevent crises and increase confidence in the activities of the state, it is necessary to develop the psychological defence of the state more than it has been done so far. From the point of view of Estonia’s strategic communication and psychological defence, it is important to know how Estonia is depicted in Russian media. Unfortunately it has been assessed only empirically.
Post-modern technological factors of societal development (Internet, digitalization, sharing economy, etc.) are objectively aimed against the fundamentals of modernistic culture. Globalization sweeps away relative economic advantages, national traditions, languages, cultural codes (rituals, carnivals, etc., as defined by Meletinsky). The migration crisis not only demonstrates this objective tendency, but also the total inability of the European elites to manage new problems of significant magnitude. Neither Merkel nor Hollande are leaders, but bookkeeper types that perform at the mid-managerial level of a mid-size company. Two crises combine to form a perfect storm: objective globalization (or Europeanization), and mediocrity in cabinets.
Should democratic civic education produce informed, patriotic, conformist and law-abiding citizens, or critical individuals with a mind of their own, who are capable of democratic participation both in defence of their individual interests and in extension of social justice in the democratic sense? Should all citizens, including future initiators, activists, spokespersons and contesters, first learn the sense of responsibility, conformity and patriotism? How many critical citizens does a democracy need? Do we need critical citizens in larger or smaller numbers during times of crisis?
The weakening of parliaments that has been diagnosed in political science is associated with the changes in the society and structural changes in the political decision-making process. The structural change in the general public, mainly the emergence of the mass media, is an essential challenge for parliamentarianism, as the vital power resources of parliaments lie in functioning external communication.
The idea of Estonian nationhood was born in the 19th century in a crucible of centuries-old antagonism of German and Russian expansionism.
The article discusses the role of populism in transition to democracy and in the performance of consolidated liberal democracies.
Education is sure to have a positive effect on a person, yet we cannot describe its specifi working mechanism. Despite this, the time that is viewed as necessary for getting a good general education has kept on increasing over the centuries and decades. Maybe it has even become too long. Enthusiasts of different filds have each promoted their own discipline, which has continued to make the curricula longer and more detailed in content.
Abstract. Parliamentary democracy has been widely embraced by politicians and especially by the scholarly community but remains less widely understood.
*European Journal of Political Research 37: 261–289, 2000. © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
At the time when European security is being threatened by Russia’s aggressiveness, the expansion of Islamic extremism, cyber terrorism, the shortage of resources, and poverty migration, Estonia’s security can be secured above all by a more coherent society and an internationally competitive economy.
*The article is based on Marko Mihkelson's speech at the security debate in the Riigikogu on 16 October 2014.
After the Soviet occupation Ida-Virumaa has become a county that lags behind the Estonian average both in its social and economic development. The population of this region is one of the fastest declining and ageing in Estonia; besides that, different social and ethnic-cultural groups are mutually little integrated and the region as a whole has also remained alien to other regions of the country.
The article compares the population policy attitudes expressed by Estonia and by another 30 European countries.The article defines population policy in a narrower demographic sense. We discuss population policy as a policy that intends to change the population figures through either birth rate or migration. Health policy is left out of the analyses because there is not a single state in Europe that is not working towards reducing mortality.
Over the last 15 year, the pension system in Estonia has undergone multiple reforms, such as the introduction of the social tax dependent 1st pillar, the introduction of the 2nd and 3rd pillars, or the raising of the retirement age. Every reform leads to changes for the beneficiaries of the system. The changes similarly affect the pension system where reforms have caused changes both within the confines of one generation and between generations. This article focuses on the inter-generation effects of the pension system and is a brief summary of a 2014 Master's thesis from the University of Tartu.
*Peer reviewed research paper.
This article gives an overview of the research project “The effects of family benefits and financing of early childhood education and care”, which was initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science, and was carried out by Praxis Center for Policy Studies. The research was supported by the Government Office’s Fund of Wise Decisions and the European Social Fund.
Using qualitative content analysis, this case study examined the indications of sustainability in the budget books of the Tallinn City Government during the first independence period of the Republic of Estonia (I), the period of occupation (II) and after the restoration of independence (III).
The article discusses how to find a balance between the national interests of the EU Member States and the unified Europe.
The article deals with the role of foreign support in the state budget of Estonia and more broadly in the development of economy during the last decade.
The role of universities in society is to create new knowledge through research and development, and to teach educated people so that they would be able in the future to cope successfully in the changing world and develop the economy and science of Estonia. Research and higher education are directly linked and require common integrated approach at the state level.
In Europe, austerity policy was considered the ideal model for the stabilisation of states with payment difficulties during the global financial crisis which began in 2008. However, in spite of their economic reasonableness austerity measures were seldom applied in the Member States of the European Union because of the social pressure and political risks that accompany them. The main justified fear of the governments not implementing these measures was not that the austerity measures would not work, but rather the opinion that austerity policy would bring along the displeasure of the voters and that would result in losing the elections.
Employers have pointed to the need to facilitate the immigration of top specialists, and to the shortage of skilled workers. Universities and research groups of centres of excellence have spoken about the facilitation of the immigration of foreign students and researchers. Different views on immigration have been expressed, but detailed information about immigrants is seldom given.
From time to time, our political press asks whether it makes sense that the government coalition in Toompea is formed by one set of political parties, while the local power is in the hands of a completely different set. Sometimes this difference can be presented as an almost tragic opposition, as a couple of parties did at the last, 2013 local elections in Tallinn.
Over the recent years, the discussion about the activities, goals, internal democracy and financing rules set for the parties has attracted a lot of attention. Citizen associations, journalists, and the parties themselves have, in light of larger and smaller problems and scandals, proposed different amendments to the acts that regulate the functioning of parties.
Eleven years ago, the gender wage gap between men and women in Estonia was 22% to the disadvantage of women. In spring 2013 we had to sadly admit that the gender wage gap had reached 28%.
The Chancellery of the Riigikogu organised the international seminar Procedures and Practices for Debating and Approving Long Term National Strategies in Parliaments in May 2013. The discussion centred on strategic documents for planning long term national development (development plans, main directions and foundations of policies, strategic plans).
Estonia is a European Rechtsstaat, however, attached to this generally true statement there are still a few „buts” that require more detailed explanations. The principle of Rechtsstaat or the rule of law is to protect a person from the arbitrary exercise of public authority. It is of great importance that all legislation was in accordance with the rule of law, that all three powers of the state – the legislative, the executive and the judicial power – respected the Constitution. At the same time it may happen that the laws and court decisions alone are not enough, that from legal point of view everything seems to be all right, but in reality... Therefore the European Court of Human Rights in its case law has constantly upheld the position that the purpose of the European Convention on Human Rights is not to ensure theoretical or illusory rights but the rights that are effective and that can be exercised in practice.
Why does Europe need federal government? Can Europe’s strength be achieved through federal government? If yes, then what is the model of federation most suitable for Europe like? If no, then what are the best ways for developing cooperation and increasing competitiveness in the globalising world? So far these questions have not yet received an exhaustive answer that can be effectively implemented. In Estonia, the social scientists and law professors have paid little attention to these issues. But this does not mean that we should not think about them. If we do not, others will think and decide for us, because the establishing of a federation is a topical issue for both the European Union and the elite of its Member States, and at the level of civil society.
The article analyses what is the causal relationship between federalisation, integration process, Europeanisation and overcoming the economic crisis; if federalisation is possible considering the positions the Member States have at the moment, and what choices would correspond to Estonia’s interests. Federalisation can be based only on the agreement of all Member States. All Member States and the European Parliament have to support the changing of fundamental agreements.
The death of the Venezuelan populist leader Hugo Chávez and his successor’s narrow victory at the presidential elections have once again brought to the fore the abundance of left and centre-left governments in Latin America and the issue of cooperation between the Americas.
The data in the World Factbook on the life expectancy in Estonia in 2012 show that among 222 countries, we rank 117th. The average life expectancy of the people of Estonia born in 2012 is 73.58 years: 68.3 years for men and 79.19 years for women. Life expectancy can be longer only when people are healthy. Thus, it can be said that in 116 countries health is supported more and damaged less than in Estonia, because there is no reason to presume that the genetic material of the people living in our country does not enable us to live as long as the people in Scandinavian countries or the Netherlands. Long life is an issue of making certain choices.
Involvement of citizens in decision-making and also the cooperation between agencies are topical issues in both the broader context of governance of the state and in the narrower context of youth policy.
The aim of this short overview of the federalisation of Europe is to provide a brief insight to the most evident legal developments of the European Union (EU) towards deeper integration and the reasons why questions about it have risen.
When the citizens of several Muslim countries came to protest on the streets at the same time with the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the notion ‘Arab Spring’ was launched.
Establishing a citizenship regime is a very complex matter where one has to find the best possible balance between human rights, the functioning of the state as a whole, and a practical administrative solution. One also has to consider what kind of solutions are legitimate enough in the given social space of values and actions. The European states are of different opinions on the matter of allowing or prohibiting multiple citizenship.
Creating insurance against incapacity for work that would be favourable for workers with health problems, rational from the point of view of using the means of social insurance and acceptable to employers is a real challenge for Estonian policy shapers.
In the light of the political scandals that have been lately discussed in the media, Transparency International Estonia has reached the conviction that it would be reasonable for the members of the Riigikogu to systematically discuss the ethics issues and to create a code of ethics or a code of conduct for the members of the Riigikogu.
Climate change makes the states look for new solutions in energy sector to replace burning of fossil fuels. The European Commission and the European Parliament have made several legislative initiatives. A target has been set for 2020 to produce in the European Union at least 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources.
According to labour research, in Estonia good Estonian language skill of non-Estonians is connected with 5 percent points smaller unemployment rate. Surprisingly, its role in explaining better income is modest, because Russian men who can speak Estonian well do not earn more than Russian men who cannot speak Estonian at all.
20 years ago, in 1992, Estonia regained independence, and the constitutional referendum as well as the elections to the VII Riigikogu were held. Voting has never been exclusively limited to election day.
The article analyses different aspects of the Estonian asylum policy, first of all focusing on the conditions of receiving the asylum seekers.
Estonia has received refugees and implemented asylum policy only since 1997, when the first Refugees Act entered into force.
Estonian elections in 2011 were held under the conditions of high unemployment (16.9%) and rather small inflation (2.7%); the real growth of Estonian GDP had turned positive in 2010, after two years of decrease.
The article deals with the part of electorate that did not attend the elections.
In the article the author uses the data from the voter polling conducted by the Institute of Government and Politics of the University of Tartu in March 2011.
The functioning and quality of representative democracies can be assessed on the basis of how the political parties compete between themselves for the voters of the electors and how the voters make their voting decisions.
This article provides a brief focused overview of the OECD analysis of the functioning of Estonian governance sector “Towards a Single Government Approach”.
With all due respect to the authors of the Estonian Constitution who once wrote it, the author of this article considers this Act a positively dilettantish and outdated text which requires revision and reorganisation with a fresh eye.
The author of this article does not support Rait Maruste’s proposal to start a thorough revision of the Estonian Constitution adopted by a referendum eighteen and a half years ago.
The author stresses that although, at first glance, the Estonian Constitution and the real life are no longer moving at the same pace in many regards, we do not have to throw our Constitution to the dustbin with shame in the light of this knowledge.
Research has shown that the positions of politicians and journalists influence the opinion of voters more than pre-election public opinion polls.
Involvement is much spoken about in Estonia but actual cooperation between the public and decision-makers rarely happens, not to speak about giving the right to make decisions to the public. Again an again, decision-makers find that they alone are the wisest and the most proper persons to set things right.
A small state like Estonia must keep pace with others in the development of energy. Decisions for the future concerning energy will have a long-term impact on the security policy of our state and the subsistence capacity of the whole population. For this reason, broad-minded energy specialists need to be involved in making the relevant political decisions.
Sustainability in Estonian energy sector is based on oil shale industry and mainly on the Baltic and Estonian power plants that were built in Soviet time.
Can a scientist of a certain field assume a position of the scientist in a field which he or she does not know?
Even though the organization of elections in Estonia is based primarily on the enthusiasm of the election organizers who do this work as a additional job, we have managed in two decades to complete the building of a reliable and modern electoral system that is capable from an information technology and technical standpoint of making use of lists of registered voters.
*The article is based on the report of the author delivered at the conference „Elections and Governing in Information Society” on 20 November 2009. See also Maandi, K. (1995). Elections and Referendums in Estonia 1989–1995.
The writer recalls that in late 2008, the Riigikogu began discussing possible amendment of the Local Government Council Election Act.
The writer believes that the 2009 local elections attested to how flexibly politicians were able to adapt to a changing situation.
The writer believes that things have gone fairly well for Estonia as a member state in its first five years in the European Union.
The question as to whether agriculture and rural life are capable of developing independently or whether they are kept afloat only by subsidies pervades every discussion held on the topic of rural life and agriculture.
Everybody wants their daily bread and other sources of sustenance to be healthful and made in a way that is responsible with regard to the environment.
The preparation of the new draft Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act was occasioned by the need to significantly improve and supplement the legislative framework pertaining to general educational schools.
Discussion in the European Union does not concern the progressive income tax itself, but rather the number and level of income brackets.
The author believes that Estonia’s fiscal policy is outdated and in need of serious reconsideration because it is no longer sustainable in its present form.
The current problems in the world economy are forcing countries to find measures to ease the impacts of the crisis, and this is also a relevant issue in Estonia. History has seen a variety of different methods to overcome crisis; the best options are measures that do not require excessive financial resources yet have an impact on various parties. One measure – increasing energy saving – has an effect on the state, households and firms.
The author explains the factors that led the Riigikogu at the beginning of last year to form a working group devoted to analyzing the activity of the past activity of the parliament and issuing recommendations how to restructure the work of the Riigikogu if necessary.
The writer believes that five years ago, eurorealism meant the ability to see the dangers from overambitiousness and centralization of the European Union, but today realism means that the hazards lying in store for the European Union in future must be assessed soberly.
Looking back at the events in Georgia and thinking about Estonia, the writer finds one clear common denominator – the state’s weakness in responding to a critical situation, which actually stems from the fact that no one believes in the likelihood of anything similar happening.
The draft Employment Contracts Act – which had been discussed thoroughly and at length by social partners, with the parties finally reaching consensus on its main points – was presented to the public on the Estonian Television programme “Foorum”.
The biggest flaw with the draft new Employment Contracts Act which was introduced in January lies in that the employer and the employee were treated as equal, even though the employee is the weaker side of the relationship.
The draft employment act prepared in January favoured the employer but was insulting and shocking to employees.
The Riigikogu constitutional committee is of the position that a number of the provisions of the draft Law Enforcement Act, which has passed the first reading in parliament, are in serious conflict with the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and require correction in the course of further proceedings.
The writer argues that the draft Law Enforcement Act being read in the Riigikogu contains a series of reforms and necessary standards and that the drafting of the act represents an immense amount of work with regard to amassing, cataloguing and codifying Estonia’s experience in this field.
The Estonian Human Development Report 2007, which has become a kind of a yearbook for Estonian social scientists, is the second report published by the Estonian Cooperation Assembly.
For the purposes of regional policy, the local government regional administrative level is generally considered to be a region in the European Union.
The process of developing Estonia´s new integration strategy began in late 2005, and the working version of the strategy entitled “Integration in Estonian society 2008-2013”, which is currently undergoing public discussion, was completed at the beginning of the current year.
As we put into words the national objectives in Estonia´s new integration programme, we would do well to avoid words that touch off major arguments, such as “nation-state” or “multiculturalism”.
Estonian-language instruction occupies a central place in those of the Republic of Estonia´s schools which have Russian as the language of instruction.
The primary risks related to the Estonian economic environment are currently related to strong inflationary pressure, the extensive cooling of the real estate market, and the large current account deficit.
Employers in the private sector do not consider it right that, at state budget negotiations, the Ministry of Finance is presented with a plan for additional hiring of new officials, which it is not planned to fulfil later.
In the final days of April, Estonia fell victim to large-scale, centrally coordinated cyberattacks. The target chosen for the attacks was no less and no more than the entire electronic infrastructure of the state.
Since restoration of independence, Estonia has had five general elections. This article analyzes the results of these elections and compares them to parliamentary elections held by three of Estonia’s closest neighbours – Finland, Sweden and Latvia.
In the very big picture, it is near certain that the success of a country’s economic development is determined by whether the country has a good economic climate. In this context, it is important that the government has a definite plan how to increase the competitiveness of Estonia’s economy. According to the plan, the labour market has to be made more flexible, investment and saving must be promoted, and the creative economy must be developed. It is necessary to ensure equal treatment for business people and fair competition, and to reduce corruption.
The Estonian Development Fund, whose founding was governed by an act passed on 15 November 2006 by the Riigikogu, was in principle created to fulfil two functions: to help the state make long-term strategic decisions – fulfilling the so-called future monitoring function and supporting the financing of innovative, high-risk ideas.
The connections between world view and educational budget can be seen through the point of view of educational ideologies (values) and the educational policy decisions derived from those ideologies; this determines what the relationship between state and citizen is like when it comes to availability of education
Since the restoration of Estonian independence, the study programme for general education schools has been the subject of constant discussion, since the curriculum is one of the most important documents for self-determination of the state and the nation.
The main aim of education is to contribute to the socialization of people in their environment, their form of coexistence – nature, culture and society.
The writer finds that procrastination with a new study programme puts Estonia's teachers in a quandary.
The higher educational strategy, which is currently in legislative proceedings of the Riigikogu sets the higher educational development directions for 2006–2015.
Taking part in the work of the Riigikogu demands increasing professionalism on the part of all deputies, and as a result the work-related organization and legal regulation of the position of member of parliament inevitably require updating.
The wave of strategic planning in Estonia began in the mid to late 1990s and was above all related to the longer term planning of budgetary resources – both domestic and European Union funds.
In election season, today's Estonian political elite sees electoral principles as being driven primarily by the letter of the law.
The first action plan for acceding to the Schengen legal space was drawn up by Estonia in 2001.
In terms of its pro-European attitude, which at times seems unshakeable, Estonia is far ahead of practically all the other EU member states: nowhere else in Europe is support and confidence in the Communities as high it is in Estonia (78%).
So that the Estonian civic society development conception (EKAK) and the implementation plan would not be just a pretty picture adorning the wall, an EKAK support group was founded in February 2004 in the Riigikogu.
As a result of the developments of the last decade, the Estonian state faces a question: will views and tactics from decades ago be enough to cope with the enemies of our society today or do we have to reconsider our attitudes and principles of distribution of resources and come up with more effective weapons in the battle against various social ills?
The Estonian government and the central bank, Eesti Pank, have set the goal of joining the euro zone at the first opportunity—as soon as Estonia fulfils the necessary conditions.
The rapid accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the euro zone has become more and more questionable in the eyes of experts.
Russia's attempts to politicize gas deals in order to improve its foreign policy positions has led to a situation where the European Union no longer muffles its criticism of the behaviour of Moscow.
The question of the environmental influence of the gas pipeline to be constructed between Russia and Germany takes on a special importance due to the vulnerability of the Baltic Sea.
The third Riigikogu White Hall forum, held in early March at the initiative of the Riigikogu's European Union Affairs Committee, was devoted to energy problems, the primary point of departure being the issues raised in the European Commission green book.
There has been little talk lately of the general development and problems of our justice system, which cannot be considered right, since the transition period in the formation of the national judicial system is far from over, but rather has passed into a new, more complicated phase.
There has been little talk lately of the general development and problems of our justice system, which cannot be considered right, since the transition period in the formation of the national judicial system is far from over, but rather has passed into a new, more complicated phase.
One of the main trends of Estonian tax policy in the years ahead is to reduce labour taxes in order to support increased total employment, instead putting more taxes on consumption, use of natural resources, and environmental pollution.
There has been much big talk in Estonia on the topic of ecological tax reform lately.
The Estonian government cannot be accused of lacking a cultural policy. The problem lies above all in the fact that the elitist-conservationist culture policy followed to date does not conform to the needs of a dynamically developing community, which is why the aim of cultural policy is changing.
As of the commissioning of this article, there was a sneaking movement afoot on the home cultural front to bring back commercials to state television and radio.
The Estonian delegation has been consistent in its calls for the Baltic Assembly to be reformed, since we feel it has been too self-absorbed.
In the current complicated international situation, the cooperation of the Baltic States must become more pragmatic and flexible.
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are three rapidly developing countries in the Baltic Sea region: partners not connected so much by historical experience but by aims, ambitions and hopes for the future.
Dissatisfaction with the state of education and social welfare in Estonia has reached a critical point.
The Estonian Educational Forum founded in Tartu in 1995 arose out of the need to involve all possible interest groups in the making of major educational policy decisions, or to put it another way, to develop, in the field of educational policy, the participatory democracy that is inherent to civic society.
If we think back on the last fifteen years of educational development, there was never as creative or interesting a period as the beginning of the 1990s, nor will there be again.
The Riigikogu's European Union affairs committee has initiated dialogue with the public at the parliamentary level on future strategies and development scenarios for the Estonian state and society.
In order to implement the principles of the vision of the development of Estonian civic society approved by the Riigikogu in December 2002, a joint commission of representatives of government and civic bodies was convoked in October 2003 at the behest of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On 13 October the Riigikogu and Pärnu Konverentsid held for the first time a conference on politics entitled "Successes and failures in world politics."
The concept of "hard" and "soft" security are now part of the past, along with the last century. We are realizing that security is a whole and does not only involve ensuring defense forces readiness but also consists of a country's ability to come to grips with the consequences of a natural disaster or an epidemic. To stem violence and chaos, we must expend effort where the threat of failure is greater.
To move in the direction of an information-based economic policy, we will need to act rapidly and decisively, or we will not be sustainable or competitive and Estonia will end up a poor border state of the European Union. What do we need to do and what can we do?
In order to speed up, Estonia's development needs a cluster-based competition strategy founded on long-term strategic plans for technologies and economic clusters that takes into account the development of new high-tech and significant traditional areas such as energy and cultivation.
There is a significant paradigm shift taking place in the global economy. The new socio-economic system is characterized by the terms knowledge-based, innovation-based, networking-based and lifelong-learning-based.
Many writings aspiring to the status of a strategic document have been drafted in Estonia, but unfortunately they do not have internal coherence or the possibility of being implemented.
The essay is a new look at problems described in a previous essay (RiTo 3/2001, 105-109).
Implementing "Sustainable Estonia 21," a strategy for sustainable development commissioned by the Government and formulated as the joint effort of a number of academicians, and business, technology and environmental analysts in 2002-2003, has been delayed by weak political will.
This article introduces ten steps that the Estonian government has planned to raise the competitiveness of the country's economy by furthering research and development activities.
Estonians have achieved renown in Europe as a fairly Euro-skeptical people. Even though the slogan "from one union to another" cannot be taken seriously, it is understandable that the emotions of a nation that has only been free for a dozen or so years cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
There is no point in discussing whether joining the EU is good or bad for Estonia, since the question of whether or not to join has been answered. But there is plenty of reason to discuss what Estonia must be like as an EU member.
Due to Estonia's imminent accession to the EU, the role of the head of state is a relevant topic. The government and parliament have been the spotlight when it comes to studying how integration is being coordinated domestically.
As long as not all parties represented in parliament are participating in the process of entering into a social contract under way in Estonia, we can only talk of a social contract initiative, not of a forum that will determine the main direction of travel for Estonian society.
The story of the social contract is the strongest testimony to its necessity. The memorandum of intent signed in 1994 by the people's congress and the statement by social scientists in 2001 about "the two Estonias" took shape with the memorandum of agreement and became "official" with the signing of the first text of the agreement on October 20.
In less than a year all of Estonia's institutions and government offices must adapt to the realities of EU operation. It is clear that merely handling the amount of information coming from Brussels will severely test Estonia's administrative capabilities.
*The article is based on the report “The EU and Democracy in the Nordic Region. European Affairs Committees in Finland, Sweden and Denmark”, October 2002.
I would like to focus here on a development of central importance both for Europe and its partners elsewhere, for which planning has been intricately detailed in some areas, myopically absent in others: the new Europe we shall inhabit beginning the first of May, 2004.
*This article is a thoroughly revised version of the report that was presented for the first time on 11 September 2002 in London at the Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs. I would like to thank the Embassy of Great Britain in Tallinn for their support.
Russia was not able to comprehend the essence of the Schengen Agreement when it raised the dispute about Kaliningrad in 2002. The issue which Russia interpreted as a visa requirement imposed against Russia is actually nothing else but a random side requirement of Europe without internal borders, which the citizens of the European Union support in every way, and it has nothing to do with the problem of Russia.
The article gives an overview of the beginnings and course of European Union entry negotiations, as well as problems and solutions that have emerged during the talks.
With the ratification of the constitution, the Republic of Estonia had taken the first decisive step toward the European legal space. Today, more steps are required to be taken.
The EU entry process to date has shown that a state's executive power's role strengthens upon accession to the union
Compared to previous ones, the contract between Res Publica, Reform Party and the People's Union is undoubtedly a new approach.
If Estonia does not want to remain a haven for cheap subcontracted labor, now is the time to start moving from a minimalist, conservation-minded state toward an innovative state that invests in its people's future.
Cooperation between partners with diverse interests is only possible when a common ground is found and agreement is able to be reached on the principles. This means a coalition agreement is essential, though it is a separate matter how detailed a given agreement should be in terms of concrete policies.
Estonia is used to coalition agreements being the programmatic basic documents of the mutual agreements between the political forces in the governing coalition.
The constitution has worked well since 1992. It has effectively fulfilled the role of foundation of a democratic society.
From the standpoint of the relationship between legislature and government, Estonia is overwhelmingly a parliamentary state, inhabiting the same family of nations as Germany, Austria, Italy, Ireland and several Central European countries as well as all of Europe's monarchies.
In making a constitution-centered analysis of the last ten years, the writer highlights one of the most important of the many functions of the constitution - that of stabilizer. The constitution does just that, defining the relationship between the community and the state and setting forth the values that unite a society.
The writer presents an overview of the development of the Riigikogu rules of order over more than ten years. He is of the opinion that over time, the law on rules of order has become increasingly longer and more confusing. A printout of its 168 articles spans 53 pages. The structure of the law is completely hopeless. Presumably only the Riigikogu speakers' assistants can remember what part lies where. To use the law, each case has to be viewed in terms of different far-flung sections of the law.
Analyzing the Riigikogu's law on the rules of order from a technical and logistical aspect (structure, optimization of regulations) and standard practice as it has evolved based on the law - all compared to mechanisms used in other European legislatures - inevitably summons thoughts of how to change the law.
In the Soviet local council elections, people voted for pre-approved candidates in one-seat districts. The ratification of a declaration of restoration of independence in 1988 allowed a direction to be taken toward renewing local governments.
The present local government funding system is becoming obsolete. The great differences in income levels and the inexorable growth of the tax-free minimum make rapid and cardinal reform of the system necessary.
The aim of the article is to survey the changes over the last few decades in Estonia's regional economic development and future trends in the wider context of industrialised Western democracies. The article details the main factors that influenced Estonia's regional development and outlines the potential development of the first part of this century.
Despite the fact that a long-term state fuel and energy plan was approved by parliament six years ago, Estonia's energy sector still moves forward amid ambiguities and contradictions. The old plan has simply left too many questions unanswered. Today, Estonia needs a new and more comprehensive and concrete energy plan.
In talking about Estonian energy's potential for development, many people from different walks of life have made pronouncements in the media on what is right and what is wrong. But often the actual goal of these edifying words is lost, as is the picture of reality.
Since the creation of the EU, the central topic of European integration has been expanding and deepening it. Deepening embraces expanding spheres of cooperation as well as increasing cooperation and placing it in under joint state-wide (supranational) control.
The objective of the present article is to evaluate the economic aspects of the European Union future prospects in the context of eastward EU enlargement, based on the theoretical concept of integration.
The objective of the European Convention was to work out recommendations on the future shape of the EU.
This article gives an overview of the issues related to party financing.
Regulation of party financing has been a topic for discussions in Estonia for almost the whole period since independence was restored. There has been one direction to pursue: namely, to separate the activity of the parties and the parliament from the financial interests of semi-anonymous donors, and to increase the proportion of state budgetary finances in the political process.
Despite some interesting precedents in 1996, the 2001 presidential elections were undoubtedly much more innovative. Indeed, these elections provided a great deal of experience and created a number of precedents, both for society as a whole and the President as an institution, and both in terms of the election campaign and for the parties.
This time the presidential elections turned out to be clearly party-based. This may be considered as an indication of maturity of the Estonian political landscape and of the strength of the political parties.
As a result of comprehensive reform, the interests of the patient must become better protected and the queues for health care must become shorter. Doctors and nurses should have an opportunity to earn more money, and what is perhaps particularly important from the state's point of view, public health money should be used reasonably, not spent in a pork-barrel manner.
The public health project has crept past the real issue of health and couched itself in medical care issues alone. In order to rearrange the system, we have to take inventory. We do not know what actual demand is for medical aid.
In a short time, Estonia has become one of the countries, where the Internet is used on a daily basis by a rapidly increasing number of customers, comparable to that of mass media (see Table 1).
The relations between the Parliament and the people go through the playing field of the media. It is important for democracy that information would be forwarded in both directions ungarbled, or that the receiver of the information would have, at least, the possibility of checking what message was sent out and what was added or cut out by the mediator who forwarded it. It is also important that everybody would be respected and nobody, discriminated against. Only democracy needs truth, and only free press stands in the service of truth, while nobody has a monopoly on truth.
In modern society, public research and development activities provide a development basis, which creates prerequisites for promoting spiritual values, improving the quality of life and enhancing economic competitiveness.
The paper deals with issues of Estonian science policy against the background of the European Research Area, but it also stresses that more attention should be paid to social sciences and other sciences focussing on Estonia.
Several research workers and other people have maintained that in previous years the achievements of our scientists who received a scientific degree were widely known; successful research workers were also praised as a national treasure. In the past decade, scientific research became like pottering about in private. Society does not know what researchers are doing, let alone that scientists would have their say in the preparation of decisions which are of importance to the state, although science is financed mainly by the state budget in Estonia.
Knowledge-based and science-centred society is becoming another slogan enabling us to justify any decisions made in science policy. We should be aware and informed of all major scientific advances in the world, but at the same time Estonia is so small that we need to ask precise questions about what kind of science we should be developing with our limited resources. Unfortunately, posing this simple question and working out a strategy for the development of science was postponed since 1990 (when the Research and Development Council (RDC) was founded) until this year, when the project of the Estonian Research and Development Strategy reached the Riigikogu.
Globalisation, as a worldwide integration of money, trade and labour markets, influences the open economy of small Estonia more than many other countries. This process is associated with several dangers, but also with interesting challenges and opportunities. Despite the dangers, it is not necessary - and generally not possible either - to fight it, although the state must monitor the processes involved and interfere by means of economic policy when necessary, in order to prevent negative consequences and make use of positive opportunities.
The objective of the economic policy is to specify the means by which maximum profitability can be achieved with limited resources.
Due to a low population density and centuries-long European-style agricultural and forestry practices, Estonia possesses good agricultural and forestry resources. In contrast to forestry resources, Estonian agricultural potential has not found adequate economic use.
Estonia is currently in a position where a significant proportion of housing comes in the form of apartment buildings that are totally outdated. The period in history when such housing was built has not changed people's attitudes regarding preferred types of accommodation.
Four Estonian towns were active members of the Hanseatic League, a medieval trade partnership. This may explain why the idea of pan-European co-operation, put forward in 1923 by Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, received extremely enthusiastic reception in Estonia, which in the 1920s was enjoying its newly-found independence.
Membership in the European Union should not be an aim in itself, nor a substitute for imaginary security guarantees. The EU is predominantly an economic partnership that is dominated by large industrially developed countries and multinational capital with its cross-border capital flows. This creates the need for small countries to position themselves in this partnership and in the international division of labour, balancing their economic interests with projections on domestic developments.
This comment distinguishes between two ideal types of democratic thinking – majoritarian and consensus democracy – on the basis of Arend Lijphart Patterns of Democracy (1999).
The present article discusses the parliamentary culture in the Republic of Estonia in the 1920s-1930s as compared with the parliamentary culture of the 1990s after the regaining of independence.
The article seconds the essay by Prof. Taagepera by stating that a high level of democracy and parliamentary culture is based upon the general political awareness and traditions of the whole nation.
In order to raise administrative capacity and implement the principles of modern public administration, a “tiger leap” is needed that would be qualitatively different from the “natural” development that has occurred until now. Thus, the changes initiated by the coalition agreement to improve the functioning of public administration, can be called an all-round comprehensive reform.
The author considers administrative reform in Estonia to be a necessity. Ten years of regained independence is sufficient to start improving the present administrative organisation where it is needed and retain what has proven useful in practice.
Administrative reform affects every citizen and therefore it has to be accepted by the majority of the political parties represented in the Riigikogu.
The article recognises drug consumption as having become a serious social problem in Estonia. The author tries to present an alternative view to a slowly proliferating opinion that Estonian youth in the 21st century cannot any longer live without drugs as drugs are seen as having become an obligatory component in the search for enjoyment.
The current Estonian drug policy is based on the “Alcoholism and drug prevention programme for 1997-2007” approved by the Government in 1997. The prevention of drug-abuse and combating of drug-related crime is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The drug problem is a relatively new phenomenon in Estonia although already in 1930 the Republic of Estonia as a member of the League of Nations had acceded to the opium convention and passed a law on import, export and sale of opium and other narcotic substances and preparations.
The present government is unable to understand the real significance of privatising the Narva Power Plants and the expected consequences for the Estonian economy. Allowing all strategic infrastructure enterprises in Estonia to fall under foreign control would in essence mean giving up Estonian independence and sovereignty.
The Government of the Republic authorised Prime Minister Mart Laar and the Minister of Economic Affairs Mihkel Pärnoja to present to the Riigikogu the conditions and background of the contract with NRG Generating Holdings B.V., which is a hundred per cent affiliate of NRG Energy Inc., to acquire a 49 per cent interest in the Narva Power Plants PLC.
On 28 August, the discussion of the issue of national importance continued that had been suspended after Prime Minister Mart Laar had made his speech and answered questions.
The present article explores the reasons, prerequisites, conditions and the expected results of the sale of minority interest in the Narva Power Plants PLC.
The question whether our laws are understandable was already raised by the VIII Riigikogu, and it still remains topical.
The authors agree with the view of Ms Maret Maripuu, Member of the Riigikogu, that in a democratic country laws cannot be written in a way that only professional lawyers would understand them. However, law should not be understood as a command.