Estonia

General information

European policy in Estonia is a part of Government policy which is implemented by Government and the Prime Minister. As Estonia doesn't have a federal level, almost all policy process takes place on a level of central government.

Main national actors

Main actors are Prime Minister, Coordination Council of EU, EU secretariat and the EU departments located at every ministry. The size of the country plays a major role in this, as there's no need in Estonia for regional or local government level because there's only about a million and a half inhabitants.

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

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

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