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Estonian Review: 18-24 June, 2008
27.06.2008
EUROPEAN COUNCIL
FOREIGN NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Estonian Prime Minister Says all Countries should Discuss Lisbon Treaty
Jun 20 - Prime Minister Andrus Ansip reiterated the Estonian stance at the meeting of the European Council that all countries should have the possibility to express their position as regards the Lisbon treaty.
EU leaders discussed during their summit that ended the reasons why those not supporting the Lisbon treaty prevailed in the Irish referendum and what impact this will have on the planned changes in the union's organization of work.
The EU heads of government and heads of state were unanimous that more time is needed to evaluate the situation. Therefore they will return to the topic of the Lisbon treaty at the summit in October. In the meantime the Irish government must work out proposals based on which it will be possible for the European Union to go on with reforms.
"The Lisbon treaty enables the enlarged EU to work more effectively and democratically. All member states should be able to express their opinion a regards the treaty despite the outcome of the Irish referendum," Ansip said, laying out the Estonian stance.
Before the Irish referendum the Lisbon treaty was endorsed by 18 countries, including Estonia.
As the other main topic, the summit of the EU looked at the impact of the increase in food and oil prices on people's daily lives and the economy on the whole. It was found in the course of the discussions that all measures that are taken to mitigate the effect of the price rises on less well-off residents must be clearly targeted and avoid distortion of the market.
Ansip stressed that the planned measures must not bring with themselves a negative effect on the EU's competitiveness and the strive to liberalize world trade. "Estonia regards protectionist policies as one of the reasons causing price rise," the prime minister said.
European Union Mission in Kosovo, Cuba Sanctions were Discussed in Brussels
Jun 19 - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet took part in a foreign ministers' meeting during the European Council where the situation in Kosovo was discussed.
In analyzing the state of affairs in Kosovo, the foreign ministers talked about the implementation of the European Union civil mission, EULEX Kosovo, which, owing to several political reasons, has progressed slower than originally planned. The foreign ministers asserted that the European Union has a key role to fill in guaranteeing stability in Kosovo. With regards to the European Union mission in Kosovo, there should be an international coordinator on site, stressed Foreign Minister Paet.
According to the Foreign Minister, it is necessary to acknowledge those actions by the UN Secretary General which have made the actual implantation of the EU mission possible. It is important that the UN Secretary General gives directions for the reorganization of the operations of the temporary UN administrative mission so that the EU legal mission can begin soon thereafter, emphasized Paet.
The European Union foreign policy leaders discussed similarly the situation in Cuba, where the main issue was the cancellation of measures taken against the government which began in 2003 and was temporarily stopped in 2005.
The foreign ministers emphasised that it is necessary to improve the human rights conditions in Cuba and to grant amnesty to all political prisoners. According to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, the current governmental changes in Cuba cannot be overemphasized, as they have been secondary in comparison to reform, which Cuba needs.
FOREIGN NEWS
Paet: Early to Speak of Visa-free Travel Between EU, Russia
Jun 18 - Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said it was still early to speak about visa-free travel between the European Union (EU) and Russia because first it was necessary to observe earlier agreements.
Speaking in the parliament's information hour, Paet said that ideas about full visa-free travel between the EU and Russia had been often expressed, but before starting to more seriously speak about full visa-free travel it was necessary to have quite a number of things properly functioning.
Above all, Paet referred to the EU-Russian visa facilitation and readmission agreements.
The minister said that both the agreements had been in force for a year. Under the visa facilitation agreement owners of diplomatic passports can travel visa free while other people can get visas more simply and cheaply than citizens of countries that do not have such an agreement with the EU.
He also pointed out that the part of the readmission agreement pertaining to citizens of third countries would only enter into force in two years. "So we will certainly have to first wait until this happens," the minister said.
Paet added that not all Russian citizens had passports making it possible to travel abroad; rather, a small proportion of Russian citizens have them.
He said that one of the preconditions of full visa-free travel was that it could apply to all citizens of the respective country.
The minister added that there were also problems pertaining to the requirement of the registration of foreigners, including EU citizens, in Russia.
"As a result our present view is that the talk about full visa-free travel between the European Union and Russia is clearly too premature," he summed up his information.
Paet pointed out that besides Russia there were also a number of countries that were candidate countries of the European Union or with which stabilization agreements had been signed.
He said that first it would be correct to consider visa-free travel with those countries.
Ex-ambassador Believes in Improvement of Estonian-Russian Relations
Jun 21 - Marina Kaljurand, who is to take office as deputy secretary general of the Estonian Foreign Ministry this fall after spending three years as ambassador in Moscow, told in an interview to Eesti Päevaleht that she believes in the improvement of relations between Estonia and Russia.
Kaljurand observed that relations between the two neighbours have been difficult for a long time.
For the improvement of relations a dialogue is needed, along with more contacts on all levels, including between politicians of the highest level, she said.
"Bilateral meetings, apart from the substantive matters that are discussed at them, are very important as signs. They show that one wishes to develop relations, that one is interested. Especially in Russia they are an important sign for officials, a sign to start acting," Kaljurand said.
She said that in the absence of high-level meetings there were more than ten bilateral agreements between Estonia and Russia that were ready to be signed but remained this way.
"On the basis of present assessments one may guess that relations with the EU, and through it also with Estonia, relations with the West more broadly, could get better. There is hope. But this is pure speculation right now. You have to wait to see what happens in half a year, in a year. When speeches become actions," Kaljurand said.
Ansip doesn't Believe that Plan to cut Commission's Size will be Abandoned
Jun 21 - It is not likely that the plan to curb the size of the European Commission will be reviewed, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said in Brussels.
"I do not consider it very likely that we could reopen negotiations on that," Ansip said after the summit of EU leaders that focused on the future of the EU after the rejection of the Lisbon treaty in the Irish referendum.
It has been claimed that the plan to have fewer members in the Commission than there are member states was one of the reasons behind the Irish "No" vote.
"That would mean reopening of the discussion on the Lisbon treaty, and we do not want to launch that process anew," said Ansip.
The prime minister said the arrangement whereby every country had a representatives in the Commission was sympathetic to him, even though the body thus formed may not be the most effective.
"The symbolic value represented in each country's having a commissioner of its own maybe even outweighs this decrease in efficiency," he said.
According to the latest plan the seats of commissioners would be rotated among the member states and the number of Commission seats would be two thirds of the number of member states.
A plan to slim down the Commission from 2014 was contained already in the EU's Nice treaty, which Irish voters approved of. The Lisbon treaty just specifies the procedures as regards the division of Commission seats.
DOMESTIC NEWS
Youth Work, Vocational Schools to Get EUR 256 mln in Investments in Estonia by 2013
Jun 19 - The Estonian government endorsed two investment plans that call for spending 316 million kroons on the infrastructure for youth work and 3.63 billion kroons to improve the learning environment at the country's vocational schools.
The investments totaling altogether some four billion kroons (EUR 256 mln) will be made over the years 2008-2013.
The list of facilities of vocational schools about to be improved contains 94 facilities at 30 vocational schools across Estonia.
Of the total investment, 2.61 billion kroons will be provided by the European Social Fund and 1.02 billion kroons by the Estonian government.
Draft projects were filed by 31 state-run and municipally run vocational schools and the total value of investments suggested by them was 4.73 billion kroons. Only three vocational teaching establishments did not file projects to receive support from the EU structural funds.
Parliament in Favour of Acceding to Pruem Convention
Jun 18 - The Estonian parliament supported accession to the Pruem Convention initiated by seven members of the European Union with the aim of more effective fight against terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration.
The aim of the agreement is to create a mechanism for faster information exchange in the anticipation, prevention and investigation of crimes.
Accession to the convention will make it possible for countries to more speedily exchange data on DNA, fingerprints, other personal data and vehicle registration information. The convention will also make it possible to carry out joint patrols and other joint operations and more effectively exchange information necessary to anticipate terror crimes and illegal migration.
Interior Minister Jüri Pihl said that by acceding to the convention it would be possible to launch more effective cooperation with Finland, "Estonia and Finland have by now been involved in close cooperation in the exchange of DNA information and due to this convention it would be possible to start official exchange of DNA information without an additional general agreement," he said.
The Pruem Convention was signed in 2005 in Pruem, Germany, by Austria, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France and Germany. Finland and Slovenia acceded to the convention last year.
Estonia has 22 Officials per 1,000 Residents
Jun 18 - Estonia has 22 officials per 1,000 residents, it appears from a statistical overview in the new issue of the public service yearbook.
By that figure Estonia is comparable with Ireland, Latvia and Slovenia. Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have 40-60 officials, Finland 100, Denmark 130 and Sweden 140 officials per 1,000 residents, the State Chancellery said.
As of the end of 2007, the 72 institutions of the state had 24,331 public servants, including 3,507 professional soldiers. The year before there were 24,400 persons on the state payroll, 69 persons fewer than the year before.
Public servants work in the offices of the parliament, of the president and of the justice chancellor, in courts and the State Audit Office, in ministries, the State Chancellery, boards and inspectorates, the defence forces and in the headquarters of the Defence League.
The country's 227 local governments had a total of 5,449 public servants. Local government officials work in the offices of municipal councils, municipal governments, departments of municipal governments and offices of local government associations.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Currency Rates in Kroons
(Bank of Estonia)
Olympic Opens its First Casino in Slovakia
Jun 20 - Estonia's Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) has opened its first casino in Slovakia, in the Radisson SAS Carlton Hotel in the centre of Bratislava.
The casino represents an investment of 4.7 million euros, the company said. This is the eighth country in which Olympic Casino has started casino operations.
The activity license issued to OEG's Slovakian subsidiary is the first new gaming license issued to casino operators in that country in the last decade. Until now this country of 5.4 million people had only two casino operators in Bratislava.
OEG started preparations for entering Slovakia's gaming market at the end of April 2007 by setting up a local subsidiary. Olympic Entertainment Slovakia obtained the gaming license at the beginning of 2008.
Paldiski Biodiesel Refinery Starts Regular Operation
Jun 18 - The biodiesel refinery set up by AS Biodiesel Paldiski in the north-western Estonian port town Paldiski has started regular operation after a trial period.
During one-and-a-half months the company has produced 2,500 tons of biofuel. The transit of vegetable oils and biofuels started in May.
Sales totalled 35 million kroons (EUR 2.24 mln) in May and are expected to double in June.
Owned by Estonian investors, the plant works three shifts every 24 hours without interruption.
Estonia's 2007 Average Wage Grows by one-fifth on Year
Jun 18 - The average monthly gross wages and salaries were 11,336 kroons (EUR 724.3) in Estonia in 2007, representing an annual increase of 20.5 percent, Statistics Estonia said.
Hourly gross wages and salaries for the 12-month period totalled 67.26 kroons, a rise of 21.1 percent.
Compared to the previous year, the annual average monthly gross wages and salaries increased the most in fishing, construction, and mining, the respective rates of increase being 29.6 percent, 29.2 percent and 28.3 percent.
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