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Successive Estonian governments have been able to set priorities and maintain them over time thanks to high levels of political stability. Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or nonbelief in public and private? As an EU member state, Estonia has developed a comprehensive legal framework to prevent monopolistic economic structures and conduct. In addition, despite increases in R&D spending, collaboration between research institutes and enterprises is suboptimal. Parental leave recipients receive 100% of a parents prior salary, which is paid for up to three years (the total leave period is 14 months but can be split up rather than taken all at once). Emergency Assistance and Thematic Programs, Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism. Since 2011, a special commission (the Political Party Funding Supervision Committee, ERJK) composed of representatives of parliamentary political parties, the chancellor of justice, the auditor-general and the National Electoral Committee has been reviewing party funding practices. Since 2016, the Center Party has led both the national government and the Tallinn city council Mihhail Klvart, the mayor of Tallinn since 2019, is the most prominent champion of Russian-language schools. The EKRE has also been adamant in politicizing the issue of abortion which has not been controversial since independence. The authorities have adopted policies to assist those seeking naturalization. In addition, the Government Office has funded several projects for enhancing the capacity of government departments to engage social partners in policymaking and enhance the capacity of social partners to contribute to it. It was replaced by a new state-owned carrier, Nordica. Disagreements with the EKRE often proved awkward for Ratas, who frequently had to explain and publicly apologize for the EKREs behavior, while seemingly holding his nose when advancing elements of the EKREs political agenda that had been incorporated into the coalition agreement. Electoral volatility has regularly varied between 10 and 20%. The Estonian Economic Miracle | The Heritage Foundation The main economic issues have included the continued support of Estonias flat-rate income tax regime and the low level of social expenditures. . Estonia: Political Developments and Data in 2021 A trial that began in 2017 focused on Edgar Savisaarformer leader of the Center Party and Tallinn city mayorand a number of codefendants who were accused of bribery, money laundering, and embezzlement. Currently, cooperation within various EU frameworks is a priority and more narrowly defined regional cooperation has lost some of its earlier importance. However, net migration has turned positive in recent years, mostly due to Estonian nationals returning from Finland and other EU member states. During the last two decades, Estonia has often faced the challenge of controlling inflation. The private sector dominates the Estonian economy. However, the population is increasingly concentrated in a limited number of urban centers, between which the distances are fairly high given the low overall population density. No governing coalition in recent years has had a unified vision regarding education reform with the Center Party wishing to maintain the Russian-language school network, while some of its coalition parties have been dedicated to the creation of a unified school network. Trade unions are typically invited to contribute to policymaking process initiated by the government. As the Soviet Union began to weaken under the reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev after 1985, Estonia started to see a glimmer of hope for renewed independence following five decades of Soviet rule. Early on, following the signing of the coalition agreement, the EKREs leadership urged the media to behave more responsibly to which President Kersti Kaljulaid protested by wearing a jumper stating Speech is Free to the governments instauration ceremony. Religious freedom is respected in law and in practice. Also, coalition partners generally abide by the policies agreed in coalition agreements, but challenges have arisen during times of crisis or in the run-up to elections. Governments have generally been united behind the policies proposed in coalition agreements. While many have lived in Estonia. More information about Estonia is available from the Department of State and other sources, some of which are listed here: Estonia ranks only 95th globally on the 2019 World Giving Index, behind many poorer countries (the index reflects how many people donate money to a good cause, help a stranger and volunteer their time). The chancellor of justice monitors the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms and functions as an ombudsman, including with regard to childrens rights; this is in addition to the chancellors role in constitutional reviews. Another corruption scandal involving the Center Party emerged in January 2021, when it was revealed that party officials had allegedly agreed to provide real estate developer Hillar Teder with access to high-profile development sites in Tallinn, including the Porto Franco property, in return for a donation of 1 million (roughly $1.01 million) from Teders son, Rauno Teder, to the party. The Great Depression put heavy pressure on Estonia's political system, and in 1933, the right-wing Vaps movement spearheaded a constitutional reform establishing a strong presidency. Entry and exit barriers to product, factor and capital markets are low or do not exist. Prices are fully liberalized. The pandemic had little impact on the implementation of the government program. The task areas of committees generally coincide with the portfolios of ministries, supporting effective parliamentary oversight. Participation Web (Osalusveeb) and Public Initiative web (rahvaalgatus.ee) provide direct access for individuals to suggest ideas and submit petitions to the parliament and local governments, and hence participate in agenda-setting (though they suffer from being dominated by a handful of online activists). Income inequality as measured by the Gini index (30.4) is very close to the EU average (30.7 in 2019 according to Eurostat) and has decreased since 2014. Roma face employment discrimination and disparities in educational outcomes. Around a third of total exports to other EU member states involve hi-tech products and services, but the country still produces mostly low- and medium-level technological goods. There are no state-owned commercial credit institutions. Estonia has a relatively high incarceration rate, with about 184 people per 100,000 residents in prisons as of 2020. Since March 2014, the Act on National Government allows ministers to be nominated flexibly, based on current needs it no longer lists ministers, but rather only sets a maximum number for the government as a whole. Some of the rules introduced by the government in its attempts to curtail the spread of the coronavirus (e.g., requirements to wear face masks in indoor public spaces) have been challenged by the chancellor of justice because of ambiguity or a lack of motivation. The need for increased national funding for socially and economically important projects raises the risk of the state budget coming under increased strain and thus the object of political conflict. Fears that the ethnic divide would develop into a full-blown political cleavage failed to materialize, partly because non-citizens have been granted the right to vote in local elections (though not in national ones). The movement of labor has created new social problems, such as children being left behind by parents working abroad. Polling is highly accessible as early voting periods are long and advanced online voting has been used since 2005, making it available in the last three parliamentary elections. However, more than 5 percent of the population remains stateless and cannot participate in national elections. A November 2020 Supreme Court ruling rejected appeals lodged by several government officials and businessmen who had been convicted for their roles in the case. The main center-left parties (the Center Party and Social Democratic Party) largely agree with these fundamental objectives. In recent years, Estonia has amended a number of anti-corruption laws, such as the Political Parties Act, the Public Service Act and the Anti-Corruption Act, partly in response to concerns raised by the Council of Europes Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). Estonia's political parties organize and operate freely, and the system is open to the rise and fall of various parties. In the Estonian parliamentary system, executive and legislative powers converge due to the tradition of strong governing coalitions and party discipline; the executive generally dominates the parliament. The government was remarkably united in its approach to the main governance challenge during the review period responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, it emphasized the need to revert back from the budget deficit once the economy has recovered, criticizing government plans for maintaining the deficit beyond 2022 possibly concerned about a political business cycle, with parliamentary elections due in March 2023. In another high-profile case, Center Party politician and former Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps was charged with fraud and embezzlement of ministry funds in November 2021. It led to the temporary restoration of border controls between Estonia and its neighboring EU member states, and restrictions on movement between the mainland and the islands in the west of the country (which were pandemic hotspots at the time). Estonia has one of the highest levels of CO2 emissions per capita in Europe and in the OECD, mostly because of the countrys continued reliance on oil shale in power generation, which accounts for 72% of domestic energy production. This move was seen by many as an attempt by younger generations to foster a more future-oriented view of the past. It's the election without any. Estonia has implemented most of the European Unions banking and finance regulations. The government relies on external academic advice, but the extent to which scholarly findings and recommendations influence policy proposals varies greatly. Estonia entered the pandemic with one of the best positions globally (non-performing loans accounted for 0.4% of all bank loans). Estonia's Natural Experiment in Fighting Right-Wing Populism Two models have emerged for dealing with a new nationalist governmentbut it's not . The median number of inhabitants per municipality increased from 1,887 to 7,739. Perceptions with regard to corruption are more positive than on average across the European Union. According to a 2012 study by the Centre for Civil Society Research and Development at Tallinn University, 31% of the Estonian population are members of civil society organizations and slightly more than half of them are active. However, in 2019, the far-right EKRE became the third largest parliamentary party, having first entered the parliament in 2015. In 2020, the European Commission began infringement proceedings against Estonia for failing to match EU regulations for prosecuting hate crimes and criminalizing hate speech in domestic laws; legislation resolving the discrepancies had not been passed as of the end of 2021. This has the potential to trigger ethnic discrimination, but there is little evidence of that currently happening. The European Unions structural funds have been an important driver of economic progress for Estonia. Movement restrictions imposed during 202021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were generally regarded as proportionate to the health threat. The latter caused a significant backlash, forcing the EKREs minister of interior to step down and further diminished the prospects of the coalition surviving a full term. Estonia supports political and socio-economic reforms in Ukraine, provides substantial humanitarian, financial and advisory and technical assistance. There are no significant examples of political players questioning democratic procedures. Meanwhile, municipalities set up programs to deliver food to home-schooled children from deprived households. Because Estonian governments adhere to the principle of balanced budgets, the country has the lowest level of government debt in Europe, which is projected to remain comparatively low even after the COVID-19-induced hike in borrowing. In 2020 and 2021, public gatherings, including religious services, were periodically restricted to contain the spread of the COVID-19. Exacerbated by a low natural birth rate (total fertility was 1.67 in 2018), the population is projected to decrease to 1.2 million by 2080, down from 1.6 million in 1990. In Estonia, democratically elected politicians have the power to govern without any substantial interference from non-elected bodies. Only 24% of Estonian respondents saw an increase in the level of corruption over the preceding decade and 18% perceived a decrease (in contrast to the EU averages of 42% and 7%). News from Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania - The Baltic Times Prime Minister Jri Ratas (Center Party, KE) remained in office from 2016 to the end of the review period. The opposition parties and several civil society organizations were strongly opposed to the initiative, which they deemed an unnecessary distraction from more important issues or highly polarizing. The levels of family, disability and subsistence benefits are also generally low, but have seen some increases in recent years. This has been boosted by the provocative rhetoric of the far-right Conservative Peoples Party (which was part of the 20192021 governing coalition), which culminated in the government plan to hold a consultative referendum on banning same-sex marriage. However, levels of volunteering have clearly lagged behind the European average, according to 2015 Eurostat data, with only a quarter of Estonians having volunteered in the previous year. However, the measures were not comprehensive as, for example, they did little to support the self-employed. According to the 2018 European Social Survey, 38% of Estonians indicated high interpersonal trust, compared to only an average of 22% in the 12 post-communist countries included in the survey (those who scored seven or above out of 20 for most people can be trusted). The Estonian Employers Confederation (ETKL) has been more active in making policy proposals, especially on tax and industrial policy. The reform was highly controversial, since some feared that it would lead to a rush on pension funds and undermine long-term pension security. 'I am proud of Estonia,' says PM Kaja Kallas. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic did little to aggravate the situation instead, the government seemed to pull together during the crisis at least as far as the government response was concerned. Eurobarometer data from June 2020 indicated that Estonians were among the least pessimistic about corruption. Martin Helme, the EKREs finance minister, appeared to veto the EU Stabilization Mechanism reform in July 2019, despite the prime ministers and governments support. Those that attempt to influence politics have limited sway, partly because governments very firmly operate based on a politically agreed coalition agreement (and, therefore, interest groups either try to lobby parties before an electoral platform is drawn up or during coalition negotiations). To address the latter issue, parliament approved a code of ethics for members of parliament, but GRECO still points out issues with members of parliaments declaration of interests and assets, as well as lobbying among ministers, senior civil servants and political advisers. Democracy Versus Nation Branding in Estonia Are the electoral laws and framework fair, and are they implemented impartially by the relevant election management bodies? The government faces no severe structural constraints that limit governance capacity. The Language Act stipulates that employees must have a certificate of Estonian language proficiency to work in certain public and private positions (e.g., doctors, nurses, lawyers, police officers and various transport workers). Nevertheless, a poster campaign by Eesti 200 (a liberal extra-parliamentary party) before the 2019 election presented a reminder of the latent ethnic segregation in the country. However, the presence of a large number of strategic documents may hinder effective coordination. While 60% believed corruption to be widespread, this is significantly lower than the EU average (71%). The government generally respects freedom of the press. Compulsory payments into this system were suspended during the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic. The judicial system continued to operate effectively during the pandemic due to high levels of digitalization. Elections in Estonia including the 2019 parliamentary and European elections are free, fair and meaningful in determining public policies and filling political positions. Its 12% capital-to-assets ratio is higher than the Basel III minimum requirement (8%). U.S. President Donald Trumps isolationist and pro-Putin views raised concerns about the future of NATOs principle of collective defense which have been alleviated by the change of administration in United States. CSOs have increased their social and political activities in recent years often outside of the institutional framework provided by the government. Levels of interpersonal trust in Estonia are high compared to other post-communist countries and many Western European countries. Political history of Estonia - Wikipedia It has rigorously critiqued administrative practices, the failure of state innovation funds to boost economic development and the use of public resources for party political campaigns. Economic growth returned in 2010 and remained positive until the COVID-19 crisis. Expropriation follows clearly established rules and compensation is based on market values. Their controversial views seldom targeted issues agreed upon in the coalition agreement but undermined general policy directions such as those regarding equality, environment or international cooperation (see Regional cooperation). Private consumption will remain subdued as real incomes remain under pressure. The reduced reliance on oil shale can be largely attributed to increased exploitation of renewable energy in 2019, 32% of energy consumed came from renewable sources (Eurostat). On the other hand, concerns have been raised about the prospect of a very sizable ethnic minority losing the right to receive an education in its native language (Russian is the first language for about 25% of the population). Washington, DC 20036. However, the cleavage is only partially politicized, as ethnic Russian parties have been weak and none have been elected to the national parliament since 2003. Were the current national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?