European Union

The membership of European Union offers Estonia the opportunity and the obligation to participate in European Union policy-making. The main principles of the Estonian EU policy have been summarised in a framework document Estonia’s European Union Policy 2011–2015, which has been debated by the national parliament Riigikogu and agreed by the Estonian Government.

The European Union Policy is shaped and implemented under the lead of Prime Minister, and it forms a part of the general policy by the Government. That requires early identification of Estonian topics of interest, formulating the standpoints and conducting the impact analyses, as well as a united effort to reach these goals.

An inter-ministerial commission Coordination Council of EU issues has been created to enable government institutions to work as one team, and to plan and monitor all parties’ EU-related policy initiation and implementation activities. Each ministry bears the responsibility for developing the draft legislation and enforcing the Government priorities in their domain.

Government Office and its European Union Secretariat is the central coordination unit of Estonia’s European Union policy. European Union Secretariat advises Prime Minister on EU matters (including preparations for European Council meetings), manages EU affairs across all government bodies, and offers guidelines for Permanent Representation work in the Council of European Union and other European Union institutions.

Address:

Rahukohtu 3
15161, Tallinn
Estonia

Phone:+372 693 5200
e-mail: els [-at-] riigikantselei.ee
Fax: +372 693 5204