Stenbock House, 3 December 2017 – According to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, the fact that nearly 80% of local governments have decided to merge on their own initiative indicates that the need for and the importance of administrative reform have been recognised across Estonia.
“It is paramount to ensure that people have a safe and good-quality living environment. This is best done through local governments that are strong, capable and progressive”, said Prime Minister Ratas, adding that voluntarily-merged local governments increase the well-being of the people. According to the Prime Minister, the Government will give more discretion to local governments and also increase their funding.
By the end of the year, the first stage of the administrative reform, i.e. voluntary mergers of local governments, was completed. The reform will continue with Government-initiated mergers. The Government will also make merger proposals to those local governments that do not meet the minimum size criterion.
The Prime Minister gave recognition to the local governments that have made efforts towards achieving common objectives, who have found a united voice and succeeded in merging voluntarily. “For decades, lip service alone has been paid to administrative reform. The success of the voluntary merger process shows that local governments understand the importance of the reform and are willing to make a solid contribution to regional development”.
The second stage of the administrative reform envisages that in January regional committees will provide the Government with an overview of the local governments that do not meet the criterion of 5,000 inhabitants. Thereafter, no later than by 15 February, the Government will make merger proposals to such local governments. The local governments can submit their opinions on the Government proposals until 15 May. The Government will then make the final decisions.
The current figures of the administrative reform:
The Government has approved the merger decisions of 12 regions and 47 local governments.
The municipal councils of 35 regions and 113 local governments have approved merger agreements.
4 island municipalities (Muhu, Vormsi, Kihnu, Ruhnu) have submitted a request for a derogation
26 local governments do not meet the size criterion and will not participate in negotiations.
23 local governments meet the 5,000-inhabitant criterion without a merger.
Administrative reform: objectives and schedule (in Estonian): https://goo.gl/aGZeln