| 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 |
It is in the best interests of both the owner of the building and society as a whole that buildings require less energy for heating and cooling, as well as for the work of technological systems. It is also important to classify buildings based on the energy use efficiency.
The aim of the article is to introduce the Baptists active in the Riigikogu before WWII.
“Three people who have reached an agreement are able to achieve more than three thousand who have agreed on nothing.” This idea proposed by sociologist Asser Murutar has guided me from studying rural society to becoming an Adviser to the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu in 1993, and is also crucial in implementing the idea of Riigikogu Toimetised (RiTo).
In the multicrisis of recent years, Estonia has done relatively well, but the country and society that have gotten used to the success story they have enjoyed so far are not satisfied. What is different in this crisis?
The word “elections” has a potential to become the most used word throughout this year because millions people are about to vote in 2024.
Estonia’s own electricity production continues to decrease, covering less than 60% of consumption.
What does Statistics Estonia know about men’s and women’s salaries and how is the notorious gender pay gap calculated?
According to Statistics Estonia, 6.2% of the population, or nearly 84,000 people in Estonia, feel deprived. Deprivation is one of the facets of poverty, which is based on the assessment of a person themselves. According to the social study of 2023, every sixth person living in relative poverty felt deprivation.
The full-scale war in Ukraine has shifted many perceptions and concepts of defence planning. NATO countries, including Estonia, focused their efforts on building up relatively small, well-equipped mission armies, but the war in Ukraine is forcing European countries to redefine the meaning of military preparedness and the resources needed fo
Electricity exchange price of 97.94 EUR/MWh in Estonia during the third quarter of 2023 was 2.5 times higher than the 2020 price of 39.18 EUR/MWh. Finland’s electricity price of 46.76 EUR/MWh was two times lower than in Estonia, having fallen to the 2019 level of 47.66 EUR/MWh. Electricity generated to Estonia’s grid covered only 60% of consumption, even though domestic production is subsidised annually by 100 million euro from the renewable energy charge.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has disrupted the order of international rela-tions that developed after the Second World War. For the first time since 1945, an open conventional war is once again raging in Europe.
The election programmes of political parties are voluminous, and many promises are made before elections. The author of the article investigated which words ap-peared most often in the election programmes, and in which contexts.
The article strives to give a historical overview of the main conflicts of dif-ferent elections in Estonia and tries to elaborate on the peculiarities of the last election campaign.
Tallinn University of Technology uses three key levers to take our teaching to the top European level.
When we consider the development of higher education and research in Estonia, or the social and economic development in general, we depend directly on well-educated people who develop new solutions and increase the added value produced in the country.
Today, an important role in economy is played by such sectors as energy, ICT, construction, industry, etc., that cannot function without an increase in the number of suitably educated young people. Without engineers, it will be impossible to achieve climate mitigation goals.
The importance of the Riigikogu Building (built in 1920–1922) in the history and architecture of Estonia in the 20th century cannot be overestimated.
The strategic branches of the contacts between the science landscape and the state are the (national) policy for science and science for policy.
The Academy of Security Sciences is the starting point of Estonia’s security. It is a school for hopeful or already active rescue officers, rescue organisers, police officers, prison or customs officers, or researchers in the field.
The public administration study of OSKA, the system of forecasting future needs for labour and skills, analysed the need for labour force and skills in state agencies, local governments, organisations of entrepreneurs and employers, occupational organisations and trade unions until 2027, and submitted proposals to the education system.
Due to the increasing demand and shortage of resources, the coming years will be characterised by discussions on the sustainability of financing and sufficiency of the financed service package in health care.
While the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Estonia in 2020 was not so extensive as in most European Union Member States and the economic restrictions were milder, the labour market reacted to the crisis rather strongly. After the first wave of the coronavirus crisis, mainly the young people were hit the hardest on the labour market. If the virus crisis lasts longer and influences most sectors of economy, the labour market position of older workers may also suffer.
In Estonia, there are several areas of concern relating to health that require the improvement of healthcare, at the same time, however, changes in the behaviour of people towards the emergence of a healthier self is even more important.
Toompea Castle in Tallinn, the historical small fortress, consists of several buildings dating from different periods. However, one magnificent representative building has been almost completely destroyed.
The most important room in the Government Building of the Province of Estonia or Toompea Palace, which was built during the reign of Catherine II 250 years ago, is the White Hall.
The article discusses the legal responsibility of assistant police officer and the supervision exercised over their activities.
In recent years, the issue of forest management has been under serious scrutiny of the community.
The EU Information Centre (EUIC) opened in the National Library in 1998 to provide information about the EU.
Oil shale is a resource that has given energy independence and security to Estonia. Oil shale has also been an excellent object of research that has helped Estonian researchers engage in high-level top science, and in a number of cases has also helped a researcher achieve the status of academician, for example.
For the past ten years, Statistics Estonia has been preparing for the next population and housing census to be register based. In the ever-changing contemporary society, register-based census allows the government to constantly monitor its most important resource, the population, and to evaluate it quickly and from various aspects.
Since the first constitutional elections in 1992, the number of political parties in the Riigikogu has shown a relatively clear trend towards decrease – of nine political parties in 1992, five have remained in 2019.
This paper gives an overview of the results of cohesion policy investments in RTDI and enterprise in Central and Eastern European countries that joined the EU after 2004.
* Serbanica, C., Constantin, D. L. (2018). EU Cohesion Policy and Innovation Support in Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Review. – CESifo FORUM, 19(1), 24–31.
“How do you know it?” is a simple question. Answering it might turn out to be more complicated, requiring comprehensive knowledge of the scientific literature on the topic.
The article outlines the principles of contemporary research career models together with descriptions of their chief elements, modifications in the recent past, and known bottlenecks. An optimal research career model is found to be one of the cornerstones of a knowledge-based society. Ideally, it is also a transfer mechanism of researchers’ capacity into practices meeting societal needs in the best possible way. The conceptual framework, recommended basic principles, as well as possible proportions of models suitable for Estonia are discussed.
* Peer-reviewed article
The Estonian labour market is not ready for the coming of new economy. Labour market is shaped by legislation, employment mediation institutions, and the parties of work process with their attitudes, expectations and qualifications. In this article, new economy means ensuring high quality of life by spending as little resources as possible, increasing the value of human labour, and spreading of corporate responsibility, sharing economy, flexible working, and smart and individual work. The preconditions for new economy are robotisation, artificial intelligence and smart solutions in the whole economy.
The broader purpose of the article is to analyse various methodological approaches on how to assess the comprehensive impact of universities on economy quantitatively or semi-quantitatively. Earlier studies conducted all over the world, implemented practices and recommendations of international organisations are used as a basis.
* This article was written as a result of the project “The Impact of Universities on the Development of Economy: Setting the Initial Task and Development of Methodology”, financed from the development fund of the University of Tartu.
Top-level research is necessary for a small country like Estonia in order to ensure cooperation with research institutions abroad, export innovative products and promote the society here.
The article provides an overview of the main principles of foresight. These are: focus on actions, involvement of interested parties, a range of future scenarios, as well as disciplinary and methodologic variety. The authors stress that foresight differs from forecasts, as it is impossible to predict the future and the future is not predetermined, but can be shaped by the combined influence of today’s actions and decisions. Consequently, the aim of foresight is not to propose a single outcome, but to create different future scenarios together with the decision-makers and experts. Taking those into account, the decision-makers can influence future developments.
In the world that is changing at an increasing speed and due to ever more complex problems, the importance of science is growing.
When collecting data, the following principles must be kept in mind: an authority may collect data only for the performance of its functions and only to the extent minimally necessary; once data has been collected, it may not be asked in duplication; data must be protected, and they must be used securely. When an authority collects, systematises, processes and preserves data for the performance of a public function, this is maintenance of a database. The National Audit Office found that local governments collect data into hundreds of databases, the majority of which have not passed even the primary control and do not use the technical possibilities to exchange data securely. Databases must be registered in the Information System Authority (databases are registered in the Administration System for the State Information System, hereinafter “RIHA”). The aim of the registration with RIHA is to support the co-capability of databases and to monitor their compliance with the requirements.
The legislation must take into account the changing nature of the society.
At the beginning of 2014, the Riigikogu passed the Apartment Ownership and Apartment Associations Act, which was prepared in the Ministry of Justice and passed several rounds of coordination.
In 2018, one hundred years have passed since the establishing of the Republic of Estonia. It is without doubt the most important anniversary in the history of the country, and it concerns all people who live in Estonia. At the time when the society is split by world-view issues, the global security situation has become tense and economic insecurity grows, celebrating an anniversary gives the country and its people a good opportunity to find again their common ground, to tell the story of sovereignty in a modern language, to initiate new activities with future perspective, to enhance belief in oneself and in one’s country.
In the globalising and increasingly knowledge-based economy, higher education institutions (HEI) are becoming ever more important in transferring, sharing and applying knowledge and skills. Regional HEIs may function as global pipelines, gathering knowledge from around the world and creating a buzz by translating, adapting and spreading this knowledge; all this is creating a forum for discussing crucial developments of regional strategies.
With the Natural Resources Strategy, Estonia has set itself the aim to get more added value from its natural resources, using as an example the natural resources strategies of Finland, Sweden and other countries. The situation of Estonia is unique because we know of several natural resources with significant economic potential that the state has not seriously studied after the restoration of independence. The state has also contributed rather little to the studying of other natural resources. The problems of the oil shale sector are a serious challenge that are accompanied by social and economic challenges. Construction materials and peat have problems of their own that have to be solved, taking into account the social, economic and environmental aspects. A dynamic country constantly has to adapt to the changing circumstances.
The economic potential of Estonian geology and mineral resources is much greater than is put to good use daily. One obstacle has been the inadequate organisation of geological research and survey.
German law has been an important example in the formation of the modern Estonian civil law. However, the German legal regulations have not been mechanically copied, they have also been amended, taking into account the peculiarities of Estonia. It still seems that the in some cases the reasons for changes are not clear. For example, there are questionable moments in the legal regulation of expiry of the limitation period and unjustified enrichment, which complicate the understanding of these issues.
For several years, Middle Eastern Islamic states have been in the grips of a devastating war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, and forced millions of men, women and children to flee their homes. Last year, the conflict reached Europe in the shape of 1.3 million illegal immigrants, and Islamic State terrorists.
The article gives an overview of the activities of the European Social Survey in Estonia in 2004–2015.
The correlation between the quantitative and qualitative indicators of legislation has been in the focus of attention of Estonian politicians for a long time. Quantitative indicators were considered a priority in legislative activities during the period when Estonia was preparing for the membership of the European Union.
The national strategy for sustainable development “Sustainable Estonia 21”, approved by the Riigikogu in 2005, determines how Estonia has planned to contribute to the sustainability of development. The trends of the indicators of sustainable development reflct how the strategy has been implemented in Estonia.
Self-regulation of the press is important to the consumers of the media, so that they could interfere in the case of the errors of the journalists. The principles and bodies of self-regulation have been created by the media itself, among other things, they include the Code of Press Ethics and the bodies that monitor the observance of the rules and the Code.
The main purpose of the European Union state aid regulations is to guarantee free and undistorted competition, therefore granting of state aid is usually disapproved. Only a few exceptions are allowed, which should ensure greater common interest and security.
The family policy of the small transition society of Estonia is far from a new Nordic country of our dreams. Within the framework of the developing market economy and the changes underway in its stratifiation system, the understandings of family prevailing in the society have taken unusual forms that are not similar to either those of the Nordic countries or those the old Europe.
Green economy is an economic model that promotes sustainable use of resources for increasing wealth.
On 19 June 1925, the Riigikogu passed the law that established the coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia. This was preceded by more than seven years of looking for the symbol of the state, and stormy exchange of ideas at debates and in the press.
The studies commissioned by the state, particularly in the social sphere, have a special place in the process of shaping knowledge-based decisions and evidencebased policies.
Every event has a time in which it is remembered. The idea for an exhibition (total of 1,823 pictures!) and the recognition of political caricatures of major Estonian newspapers in 2000, was in the first issue of Riigikogu Toimetised [Journal of Estonian Parliament] together with 44 caricatures from the period of 1907-1999.1
The editor-in-chief’s hobby-story “Estonian Political Caricature: from Gentle Humour to Biting Satire” begins with a motto by University of Tartu Professor Harald Peep: Humour is said to be very democratic. No one can either be forced to laugh or prohibited from laughing.