Estonia

**General information**

 European policy in Estonia is a part of Government policy which is implemented by Government and the Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Estonia is divided into 15 different counties that have a local governance and are a subject to the central government.

The Government of the Republic exercises executive power. The members of the Government of the Republic are the Prime Minister and ministers.

The Government of the Republic directs and coordinates the activities of governmental authorities. The governmental authorities are ministries, the Government Office, county governments, executive agencies and inspectorates, and their local agencies with the authority to exercise executive power.

The Government of the Republic makes decisions within its power at government sessions.

**Main national actors**

Main actors are Prime Minister, Coordination Council of EU, EU secretariat and the EU departments located at every ministry. The efficiency of governance has risen due to the aging and decreasing population, because with an ever-shrinking administration there is a need to provide increasingly high-quality public services that are available regardless of where the person lives.

The government ensures staff and officials (e.g., teachers, health workers, rescuers, police, prison officers, legal professionals) possessing the necessary skills for the state, taking into account regional needs. Organisations are developed and people are being taught to adapt to changes in global trends, but also strategic planning at both the state and local government level. Estonia is well known as a digital country, and developed data economy. Considering the growth of cyber threats and geopolitical changes, Estonian IT engineers develop cyber security in various areas both in Estonia and in the EU as a whole, introduce sustainable solutions to increase the detection of cybercrime and process it more efficiently, and improve the viability of critical services and infrastructure.

**Prime Minister** is responsible for the in-state coordination of the EU policy. This makes it a priority for the politicians as well.

Estonian Ministries are established to manage the areas of government. Every ministry receives control over a specific field of life. A ministry is headed by a minister, who is a member of the Government of the Republic.

The work of the structural units of a ministry is directed by the secretary general of the ministry, who also coordinates the activities of state authorities within the area of government of the ministry and manages the operations of the ministry.

There are 11 ministries in Estonia. Every ministry performs the functions provided by law and assigned by the Government of the Republic and serves as the superior body of executive agencies and inspectorates and of other state authorities within its area of government.

Coordinational Council of EU is situated in the Government Office of the Republic of Estonia (an institution which supports the work of the government and the Prime Minister). The purpose of the **Coordinational Council of EU** is to promote better cooperation between ministries and the ability to work as one team towards EU policy. The coordination council consists of the representatives from every ministry, EU secretariat and also some over viewers (f.e. National Bank, European Union Affairs Committee of the Parliament). The Committee comes together once a week. Every important proposal of the Commission is discussed there and decided on whether it should be taken to the Government or not. The role of the Committee is crucial in the in-state coordination of the EU-policy and making sure that all the relevant parties have common positions on the policy.

**EU Secretariat**, that is also situated in the Government office,is the central coordination unit of Estonia’s EU policy. It is headed by the director for the EU affairs who is also an advisor to the Prime Minister on European issues. EU Secretariat manages EU affairs across all government bodies and prepares the meetings of the Coordinational Council of EU.

In the Parliament, the EU policy is decided and coordinated by **European Union Affairs Committee**. It is a standing committee which that gives the mandate to the positions of the Government on the EU draft legislation and Estonia’s positions for the meetings of the Council of Ministers and the European Council.

In addition, every ministry has a special unit for the EU affairs which helps to deal with sectoral European legislation, transposition and implementation.

Sources:

https://www.eesti.ee/en/republic-of-estonia/government-of-the-republic

https://riigikantselei.ee/en/european-union

https://ec.europa.eu/estonia/node/155\_en