NordenBladet — The Government approved two financial allocations from the Government’s reserve as meeting decisions.

Firstly, it was decided to allocate 50,000 euros from the Government’s reserve to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance to the Czech Republic.

Based on the data of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control from 3 November, the Czech Republic ranks second in Europe in terms of the 14-day infection rate of COVID-19, after Belgium. The 14-day infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants is 1586.3 in the Czech Republic. This level of spread of the virus places an exceptionally heavy burden on the local healthcare system and the state has made several requests for assistance to alleviate the issue. Although Estonia’s capacity and capabilities to provide assistance that would exactly match the assistance required by the Czech Republic are highly limited, Estonia considers it vital to offer its support to the Czech Republic as a matter of urgency in resolving a very complex and difficult crisis situation.

Secondly, the decision was made to allocate 100,000 euros from the Government’s reserve to the Ministry of Justice in 2020 to cover the costs of supporting the provision of legal advice.

Source: Estonian Government

NordenBladet — At today’s meeting, the government decided to allocate 880,000 euros from the reserve to the Ministry of Education and Research to continue the COVID-19 monitoring study in November and December 2020. The aim of the monitoring study conducted by the University of Tartu is to monitor the actual spread of the coronavirus and the course of the epidemic in Estonia.

According to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, in the current situation, the state needs science-based information to make decisions. “In order to control the spread of the virus, we need constant input from scientists on the epidemiological situation. In this way, as a country, we can respond quickly and flexibly and avoid placing an excessive burden on our people and businesses. The monitoring study provides valuable input on the basis of which the government can plan further activities,” said Ratas.

The Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps acknowledged the work of the researchers. “Estonia has done well in preventing the spread of the virus so far, and our researchers have played an important role in this. The government has funded several large-scale researches to further investigate the coronavirus during and after the emergency situation,” said Reps.

The monitoring study is carried out on the basis of a random sample of the adult population, which makes it possible to identify the extent of the spread of asymptomatic infections. People’s risk behaviour and its changes will also be studied. At the beginning of September, for example, thanks to a monitoring survey, the latent spread of the virus was discovered in Ida-Viru County and a little later nationwide. Thanks to the monitoring survey, the spread was detected in the initial phase of the outbreak.

Researchers at the University of Tartu have conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of eight survey waves to determine the actual spread of the coronavirus and the course of the epidemic. Based on a random sample, nearly 21,000 people across Estonia have been interviewed and tested. Six waves were conducted countrywide and two were conducted regionally in Ida-Viru County and Tallinn and Harju County.

The allocated amount is intended for four study waves in November and December this year. After each study wave, the research team has provided the government with mid-term reviews which serve as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the measures and revising them if necessary.

The scientific council will use the results of the study to assess the situation and to advise the government in planning and easing measures. The results of the study will also be shared with the Health Board.

Participation in the study is voluntary – the people included in the sample have the right to refuse to answer or take the test at any time.

In addition to the COVID prevalence monitoring survey, waste water surveillance will continue to detect latent spread of the virus and to do so as early and accurately as possible. If the possible spread of the virus is detected in some areas during the surveillance of waste water, the share of these areas in the population-based monitoring sample will be increased.

Read more about the monitoring survey: https://www.ut.ee/en/research/study-prevalence-coronavirus-estonia

Source: Estonian Government

NordenBladet — At today’s cabinet meeting, the government discussed the possibilities of using nuclear energy in Estonia and decided that a national working group of nuclear energy should be created to define the nation’s positions towards the issue.

So far, no decisions have been made regarding the use of nuclear energy in Estonia, as thorough preparations are required prior to that. The working group will be tasked with analysing the feasibility of using nuclear energy in Estonia with the help of foreign experts and submitting their conclusions and proposals to the government. Their impact analysis on the implementation of nuclear energy will help the government make a calculated and informed decision on the matter.

“The introduction of nuclear energy after 2030 is one possible way of increasing Estonia’s energy security, sustainability, and competitiveness, as well as reaching the climate goals set for 2050,” said Prime Minister Jüri Ratas. “It is one of many possible solutions for producing climate-neutral energy in Estonia, which definitely deserves widespread discussions within the society and thorough analyses to help us make decisions in the future.”

The topic of nuclear energy has become prevalent in Estonia mostly because it would help to achieve Estonia’s climate goals for 2050 as an energy source with low carbon emissions. Another benefit of nuclear energy is its capability of ensuring round-the-clock electricity supply regardless of weather conditions. However, one of its most significant downsides is the time-consuming and resource-intensive implementation process.

According to Minister of the Environment Rene Kokk, the use of nuclear energy would help to ensure Estonia’s energy security, but would also require large-scale investments from the government to build and operate a power plant, as well as an extended period of preparation.

“In addition to producing electricity, nuclear energy can also be used to heat buildings and, with certain technological solutions, produce hydrogen. However, numerous security and political risks are involved with establishing a nuclear power plant. It is also important to consider the issue of the used nuclear fuel – handling and storage thereof is complicated and would require the establishment of a suitable repository,” he explained.

The implementation of nuclear energy requires at least 10–15 years of preparatory work. Therefore, Estonia’s first nuclear power plant could not begin operations before 2035.

Currently, Estonia lacks the legal framework, the competent authorities, and the experts required for establishing nuclear power plants. Pursuant to the Radiation Act, a radiation practice licence for the operation of a new nuclear facility can be applied for after the Riigikogu has adopted a decision on commissioning a nuclear facility.

As it is currently not known whether a nuclear power plant could be built in Estonia and what technological solutions it would implement, the requirements for the storage of nuclear waste created in the plant are also not defined. In order to store the used nuclear fuel, a suitable repository should be established in Estonia. The nuclear waste repository that will be constructed for the disassembly and safe storage of the training reactors of nuclear submarines in Paldiski by 2040 is not suitable for the possible storage of nuclear fuel.

The decision of using nuclear energy is a matter of great significance for the general public; therefore, it is important for people to be allowed to contribute to discussions on the matter. It will be specified in the course of the process of analysis whether the general public would be involved in the form of a referendum or in other ways.

The working group will be assembled by the Ministry of the Environment in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and other relevant ministries.

Source: Estonian Government

NordenBladet — The government approved the positions for the video meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union on 4 November.

The economic and finance ministers of the EU will discuss the European Commission’s action plan for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Money laundering almost always has an international dimension, which means that money is moved across national borders. Global cooperation and cooperation between the European Union and its Member States is of key importance in the fight against money laundering. In order to prevent and combat financial crime, the European Union needs a more uniform set of rules, cooperation and exchange of information between countries need to be promoted, and supervisory issues need to be addressed. The government supports the Council’s conclusions on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

As part of the European Semester process, ministers will discuss the annual sustainable growth strategy and the report on the European Court of Auditors’ country-specific recommendations.

The government considers that the rapid and successful implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility is essential to support the economic recovery of the Member States, which presupposes the establishment of national recovery plans. The government also agrees with the Council’s conclusions on the European Court of Auditors’ report on the European Semester.

The European Fiscal Board will present the 2020 report to ministers. In addition, the EU statistical system will be discussed.

The government supports the adoption of conclusions on EU statistics and emphasises the importance of using new methods and technologies to collect high-quality statistics and to reduce the associated administrative burden.

Source: Estonian Government

NordenBladet — Today, at a meeting with the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Tallinn, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said that the coronavirus crisis has proven how important cooperation between people and countries is. He confirmed that the United States of America is and will always remain an extremely important partner for Estonia.

In his speech, Ratas thanked all the members of the Chamber of Commerce for their contribution in developing economic relations between the United States of America and Estonia. He stressed that the year has been difficult, and the impact of the pandemic has been significant on the economies of Estonia as well as the USA. “The crisis is not over, and we have several months of uncertainty ahead of us. This means that the government must be prepared to support the economy as much as possible and necessary.” According to the prime minister, we must maintain the balance between the measures applied for restrict the spread of this virus and maintaining our normal everyday activities.

“One of the most important things that this crisis has demonstrated is the fact that people and countries are dependant of each other,” the prime minister said. “Most countries have applied strict measures to control the pandemic. We must work together to conquer this virus and protect our people. We will recover quicker if we work together.”

Ratas also pointed out that the crisis may present us with new opportunities to strengthen cooperation and increase solidarity while also improving our efficiency and profitability. One example of this is the increased demand for digital services. “Whether we are speaking of e-health, e-learning or cyber security, the Estonian private sector has great abilities for offering these services,” said the prime minister.

Ratas and the entrepreneurs also discussed the Three Seas Initiative, the priorities of the next state budget, and future plans of the government.

Source: Estonian Government

NordenBladet — Today’s meeting between Prime Minister Jüri Ratas and the representatives of the start-ups focused on the progress of the sector, development prospects, and conditions for reviving the private and venture capital market.

‘Start-ups more narrowly and IT sector more broadly have an enormous growth potential and a focus on offering high value-added products. As almost a quarter of the staff in this sector are foreigners, then from the perspective of our growth and competitiveness, it is important for Estonia to be a country where foreign talents want to come. Hopefully, under the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and in cooperation with the representatives of the sector, we will find solutions on how to support start-ups,’ Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said.

In addition, the main economic indicators of the start-up sector were presented at the meeting. According to the Estonian Startup Database, 1,105 start-ups with a total of nearly 6,300 employees have been registered in Estonia. The average wages in the sector amount to 2,508 euros, which is 1.8 times higher than the average wages in Estonia. Based on the forecasts, the combined turnover of the Estonian start-up companies will exceed 550 million euros this year, which is 40% more than last year. Labour taxes are paid in the amount of almost 71.7 million euros. The annual growth of the start-up sector is 30 percent on average.

The meeting also discussed the proposals of the start-ups to make employment legislation more flexible and introduce new forms of employment relations.

According to the Prime Minister, several worthy ideas were taken from the round-table. ‘Working and investing in Estonia must be as simple as possible, and the regulating legislation supportive and relevant,’ Ratas said. ‘Most certainly, the experiences and proposals of the representatives of the sector are an excellent starting point to ensure that the state could support our companies in the best possible way,’ he added.

At the round-table meeting, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications presented existing and new initiatives on state investments in the development of venture capital markets. The next round-table meeting with start-ups will be held at the Prime Minister in spring of 2021.

Source: Estonian Government