Family and population policy

The main goal of the Governing Coalition is to achieve a positive population growth in Estonia through an increase in the birth rate, longer average life expectancy and improvement of the living standards.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall plan and implement through 2007-2011 the following fiscal, economic, legal and education policy steps:

1) enable parents to stay with their small child – to that end the Governing Coalition shall extend the period of payment of the parental benefits until the child reaches the age of 18 months (i.e. by four months in comparison with the present arrangement);

2) to value the role of fathers, pay the father during the mother’s pregnancy and maternity leave or within two months after the birth of the child an additional benefit for 14 calendar days on the basis of the father’s salary similarly to the principles of payment of the parental benefit;

3) encourage the birth of third and fourth children in families – to that end the Governing Coalition shall amend laws in such a manner that as of the third child a parent receives an additional benefit at the rate of 0.5 times the parental benefit and as of the fourth child at the rate of single parental benefit (the so-called Estonian rebirth bonus is legalised). The amendments to the Parental Benefits Act shall be adopted in the first half of 2007;

4) pay 2,000 Estonian kroons a month for the third and each consecutive child as of cessation of payment of the parental benefit;

5) to provide families which have small children with care and medical assistance the state shall pay health insurance tax at the rate of 13% of the parental benefit for the parent receiving the parental benefit – the health risks of families with small children shall be insured;

6) to value raising children the annual state pension insurance coefficient of the parent staying at home shall be raised to 1 for the period following the payment of the parental benefit until the child has reached 3 years of age;

7) increase the child care allowance payable as of the cessation of payment of the parental benefit until the child reaches 3 years of age from 1,200 Estonian kroons to 1,600 Estonian kroons a month by 2009;

8) for the purpose of increasing the number of nursery school student places and contribution to payment of a minimum salary to nursery school teachers, which is equal to that of basic school teachers, create a national investment programme titled “Nursery school available to each and every child!” in the annual volume of 400 million Estonian kroons and initiate amendments to legislation, which help to reduce the deficit of nursery school student places;

9) add a provision to the Preschool Child Care Institutions Act, according to which a local authority that fails to provide a parent requesting a nursery school student place with one, shall pay the parent the so-called poll tax of the nursery school child so that the parent can arrange the provision of the child with the nursery service and general education;

100) in order to increase parents’ options upon developing their children and combining work and family life and to make the return of parents to the labour market easier, develop flexible work and child care opportunities, support employment training of the parent staying at home with the child and calculate the time spent by a parent in the parental leave as part of the length of the unemployment insurance;

11) establish national hobby school money: A poll tax of 2,000 Estonian kroons for every child of school age (6-19-year-olds) which can be used only for paying for participation in sports or hobby groups. Hobby school money shall be administered via local authorities. The goal is to keep the children away from trouble and give every child the chance to participate in at least one sports or hobby group.

12) allocate 100 million Estonian kroons in the annual state budget for compensation for the expenses of treatment of childlessness;

13) to enable children left without parental care to be raised in a family, the rate of support paid to foster families from the present level of 1,500 Estonian kroons a month to 3,000 kroons a month, i.e. to the same level as the actual costs in a children’s home;

14) pay the benefit for families with many children as of the fifth child (currently, as of the seventh child);

15) allocate 50 million Estonian kroons a year for resolution of dwelling problems of families with many children;

16) weigh the impact of the national family policy steps on the birth rate and effectiveness thereof upon contributing to raising children;

17) in order to increase the average life expectancy and living quality of the people of Estonia the state shall improve notification of HIV, drug abuse, alcoholism, smoking, traffic hooliganism, unhealthy nutrition and sedentary lifestyles, and allocates at least 20 million Estonian kroons for it annually out of the state budget. In order to reduce occupational deaths and severe injuries the state supervision over adherence to occupational safety shall be made stricter.

Economic policy, tax policy and budgetary policy

The long-term goal of the economic policy of the Governing Coalition is to increase the wealth of the Estonian people. To that end we consider it necessary to continue developing the former liberal economic policy and reorientation of the structure of the Estonian economy towards higher productivity, more effective use of energy and materials and generation of knowledge. The formula of the success of Estonia is: creation of a higher value with less labour force and natural resources.

To increase the wealth of the people of Estonia the Governing Coalition shall:

1) continue pursuing a strict budgetary policy with a budget surplus and reduction of the government debt;

2) make transition to the euro a priority and harmonise excise duty and resource tax policies in order to transfer from the kroon to the euro as soon as possible. Increase the pay costs in the public sector only at the same pace as the growth of nominal productivity in the private sector;

3) retain a single income tax rate for everyone. By 2011, reduce the income tax rate to 18% (2010 – 19%, 2011 – 18%), increase the minimum amount exempt from income tax to 3,000 Estonian kroons a month (2008 – 2,250 Estonian kroons; 2009 – 2,500 Estonian kroons; 2010 – 2,750 Estonian kroons) and introduce income tax exemption to the extent of the minimum amount exempt from income tax as of the first child. The act stipulating these amendments shall be adopted in the first half of 2007. Other new tax exemptions or differences shall not be established.

4) make indication of insurance premium payable and withheld by the employer mandatory in employment contracts;

5) not support value added tax exemptions and shall not change the value added tax rate;

6) preserve the income tax system which has made Estonia successful, according to which the profit of an entrepreneur invested in business is not subject to taxation – respective amendments of law shall be adopted in the first half of 2007;

7) for the purpose of encouraging saving, amend the Income Tax Act in such a manner that upon taxation of the profit earned on security investments legal and natural persons are treated equally;

8) establish legislative conditions for participation of companies with little owners’ equity (minimum 1 million Estonian kroons) in the alternative market of the stock exchange;

9) increase the state’s investments in research and development and in developing the research infrastructure;

10) the following programmes shall be launched for the purpose of supporting domestic innovative information and communications technology business:
· a support programme for innovative companies, which supports making innovative solutions into internationally competitive products;
· a programme for increasing awareness of intellectual property ownership. The state shall assist companies in patenting, software legality and provide trademark expertise;
· promotion of telecommuting through legislation.
11) make business easier for small and medium-sized enterprises;

12) for the purpose of strengthening legal certainty, make the land register available on the Internet free of charge. Continue improving national registers and making them available to everyone free of charge. Considerably increase the provision and availability of electronic legal services. Open a national portal for entrepreneurs and a national portal of legal information. All legislation and their explanatory memoranda shall be published and made easily accessible for everyone free of charge by the State Gazette.

13) reduce the number of fields of activity where entrepreneurs are required to have activity licenses and permits. The entirety of the regulation pertaining to activity licenses shall be amalgamated;

14) grant use of or sell the immovable property belonging to the state, which is not necessary for performance of the duties of the state and do so by way of a public and transparent auction;

15) modernise the labour market and make it more flexible. Adopt a new Employment Contracts Act, which will be part of the Civil Code. Major amendments shall be made in cooperation with the parties to the labour market;

16) speed up revision of work permit applications and reduce the bureaucratic operations pertaining thereto. Within the European Union it shall be proceeded from the principle of free movement of labour.

17) create rehabilitation proceedings next to bankruptcy proceedings, allowing a company to be preserved in the event of temporary insolvency;

18) ensure free and fair market competition between entrepreneurs. Enforcement powers of the state shall be applied with regard to monopolies, cartels and market manipulations, which increase consumer prices;

19) establish requirements for the quality of goods and services relating to public procurement and establish functioning quality supervision of the goods and services acquired by public procurement. Introduce a mechanism of green public procurement. Criminalise any agreements prior to and after public procurement;

20) create the required conciliation proceedings in addition to judicial proceedings, which allow for faster resolution of disputes and performance of agreements than judicial proceedings;

21) create a student company start-up fund for supporting the enterprise spirit and innovative ideas of young people through a programme of Enterprise Estonia – the state shall cover the operating expenses of a student company in a business incubator over a period of six months;

22) establish a design support programme under the aegis of Enterprise Estonia, aimed at supporting Estonian design;

23) support equal treatment of employees and not support establishment of additional special pensions.

Pay policy

The goal of the Governing Coalition is to introduce a competitive pay policy, which ensures the employees' motivation to enter and stay in the Estonian labour market and ensure operation of knowledge-based economy.

The Governing Coalition shall:

1) increase the pay costs in the public sector only at the same pace as the growth of nominal productivity in the private sector;

2) increase the transparency of the pay policy in the public sector and the competitiveness of the pay in the public sector. The pay policy of public servants of the same area of activity in different areas of administration shall be harmonised.

3) the minimum pay of teachers shall be taken to the level of average pay within 4 years and thereafter the pay of teachers shall be increased at least at the same pace as the growth of the average pay;

4) the pay of cultural employees who have higher education shall be increased at the same rate as the pay of teachers and the minimum pay of police officers, rescue service officers, border guards and prison guards shall be increased at a heightened pace.

Education and research policy

The goal of the Governing Coalition is to introduce a policy which would ensure the availability of competitive education for the people of Estonia, providing them with equal opportunities and also ensure the development of research in Estonia and, through this, the skills and knowledge for successful management in the environment of globalisation. To that end the Governing Coalition shall realise the following budgetary, economic and legal policy steps through 2007-2011:

1) increase the annual expenditure on education at least at the same pace as the average growth of budgetary expenditure;

In general and vocational education

2) aim for a demographically and logistically justified school network for Estonia in order to ensure the equality of education opportunities throughout Estonia;

3) establish a model of financing where the size of the poll tax depends on the form of study and the school level. The capital component is contained in the poll tax. Upon financing study expenses the Governing Coalition shall treat the schools equally, regardless of the form of ownership;

4) enter into employment contracts with the headmasters of nursery schools, general education schools, vocational schools and hobby schools, replacing the competition which is held once in every 5 years with evaluation;

To that end, pay the so-called base money component in addition to the poll tax in the case of primary school forms, which is also paid for each unfilled student place as of a certain number of students;

6) annually increase the capital component in the poll tax of general education schools with the goal of making the classrooms of general education schools warm and lit and school buildings energy-saving;
7) institute a non-refundable start-up money of 200,000 Estonian kroons for teachers who have a higher pedagogical education and commence work for the first time in a small town or urban area, which is paid out during a certain number of years of working in the school. Apply the start-up money for motivating Estonian teachers to commence work in upper secondary schools where the language of instruction is currently Russian as well;

8) establish a maximum class size of 24 students throughout basic schools;

9) in order to reduce the number of basic school dropouts, pay close attention to better preparation of children for school, promote individual learning, home schooling and binding hobby education with formal education, and commence introduction of the system of assistant teachers;

10) increase the choices of students through the upper secondary school curriculum;

11) increase the proportion of science in curricula, diversify the methods of study (outdoor study, discovery study, etc.);

12) establish the standard of a modernised study environment and teaching aids in schools and obligate local authorities to bring the furnishings and technical equipment of schools into compliance therewith;

13) develop and implement a national e-learning programme covering all levels and forms of study, i.e. Tiger Leap II, which stipulates acquisition of modern technical equipment for all schools and development of study software;

14) establish regional study and career consultation centres;

15) implement a state-funded programme aimed at the transition to the Estonian language of instruction through 2007-2011 to the extent of 60% of the curriculum in upper secondary schools where the language of instruction is Russian;

16) make the possibilities of obtaining vocational education more flexible – vocational education will be enabled for those who have finished primary school;
17) reorganise the network of vocational education institutions and finance the places of vocation training on average at the rate of 1.5 in comparison with schools of general education;
18) create the conditions for considerably higher involvement of the private sector in modernising vocational education;
19) for the purpose of developing healthy and cultural nutrition habits, extend the state financing of school lunches up to the upper secondary school level, preferring organic food.

20) support construction of the AHHAA centre in Tartu, which interactively introduces scientific achievements and promotes creativity;

21) make work with children and minors a priority in preventing offences. In order to educate children who have behavioural problems, design a system which takes the needs of each individual child into account;

22) our goal is to increase the number of participants in adult education from 6% to 12.5% by 2010;

In higher education, research and innovation policy:

22) implement the “Higher Education Strategy 2007-2013” and “Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2007-2013. Knowledge-based Estonia” adopted by the Riigikogu to the prescribed extent until 2011;

23) change the system of state education allowance, increasing the money allocated for education allowances out of the state budget in proportion to the amounts allocated to higher education out of the state budget. Jointly with the Federation of Estonian Student Unions devise and implement a new system of state education allowances, which depends on academic performance;
24) so everyone can study in a higher education institution, increase the amount of student loans secured by the state to 60,000 Estonian kroons per year. Student loans will also be granted for acquiring vocational education. Establish the possibility for deletion of the student loans of the employees of foundations where the state and local authorities are members;

25) in higher education support the introduction of European quality principles and European organisation of quality evaluation, and internationalisation. Make financing higher education dependent on the quality of teaching;

26) promote doctoral studies and to that end allocate to universities funds from the state budget to enter into performance agreements with doctoral candidates, in order to provide doctoral candidates with decent living, working and studying conditions, aiming at the defence of no fewer than 250 additional doctoral level degrees by 2011;

27) considerably increase the portion of the GNI spent on education and research. Establish the goal of spending 2% of the GDP on research and development by 2011, whereas the state will ensure at least half of it through budgetary allocations. The Governing Coalition establishes a long-term goal of spending 3% of the GDP on research and innovation by 2015;

28) the state shall promote closer cooperation between entrepreneurs and researchers through supporting centres of excellence and technology development centres. Analyse the possibility of introduction of the innovation unit through the programmes of Enterprise Estonia;

29) establish specific stipends for technology and science specialties;

30) develop national sciences.

Social and health policy

SOCIAL POLICY

Policy of the elderly

The goal of the policy of the elderly of the Governing Coalition is to create opportunities for leading a decent and active life in old age.

The Governing Coalition shall create opportunities for the elderly to actively participate in social life, incl. to participate in lifelong learning and work.

The Governing Coalition shall continue to pursue a policy promoting economic growth and shall double pensions in four years. Among other things the Governing Coalition shall:

1) change the indexation of pensions in such a manner than the rise in pensions takes place at a pace that is more comparable with the accrual of social tax. To that end the Governing Coalition shall increase the dependency of the annual rise in pensions out of the growth of the accrued social tax;

2) in state pension insurance change the calculation of the annual coefficient dependent on the contribution of the person in such a manner that coefficient 2 takes into account the median of social tax accruals instead of the average;

3) as of 1 July 2007 raise the base amount of the pension by 250 Estonian kroons and the national pension by 150 Estonian kroons;

4) consider preliminary funding of the transition expenses of the pension reform necessary and legislate that the proceeds (interest) of the state’s stabilisation reserve shall be transferred to the state pension insurance fund if the economic growth of the state in the previous year exceeds 7%;

Social insurance

5) The Governing Coalition shall, on the basis of the experience in unemployment insurance and without increasing the employers’ tax burden, establish occupational accident and disease insurance;

Social care

The goal of the Governing Coalition is to increase social security in society. The purpose of social benefits is to support those who actually need help.

To attain these goals the Governing Coalition shall:

To that end the Governing Coalition shall develop welfare services, establish respective standards and create a system for supervision of welfare services;

Children’s home children

The Governing Coalition considers it important that young people leaving a children’s home manage on their own. We shall take any and all measures to ensure that adults leaving a children’s home successfully manage with their life on their own.

People with special needs

The Governing Coalition undertakes to achieve an employment rate of 50% among disabled persons of the working age in 15 years.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

7) increase the availability of modern equipment, especially for disabled children and young people;

8) increase the funding of rehabilitation and support services so people with health problems and disabilities can return to an ordinary human and work environment as soon as possible;

9) promote disabled persons' work to a greater extent using active employment measures;

10) grant transport subsidies to people with special needs who cannot use public transport, but want to learn a profession and go to work;

11) update the terms of payment of social benefits to disabled persons and thereafter increase the rate of social benefits;

HEALTH POLICY

Lifestyles, awareness and health promotion

The goal of the health policy of the Governing Coalition is healthy people and prolongation of a healthy life. We shall focus on promotion of healthy lifestyles and improving the quality of human, study and work environments.

The future of the health of the population is determined by the risk-aware behaviour of young people and making choices aimed at preventing health risks. The Governing Coalition considers everyone's role in prevention of health risks and consistent increase of people’s awareness upon valuation of healthy lifestyles and prevention of diseases as vital.

To attain these goals the Governing Coalition shall:

11) increase the volume of health promotion programmes;

12) promote healthy nutrition in schools and other child care institutions;

13) establish stricter supervision over fulfilment of the health requirements pertaining to study and work environment;

14) improve state supervision over adherence to occupational safety rules;

15) draft a national alcohol policy aimed at considerable reduction of the negative consequences of alcohol abuse;

Prevention of diseases

The Governing Coalition considers it very important that the system of early detection of diseases function smoothly and effectively. Family doctors are the key link in detection of people's health risks and coordination of the treatment process.

The Governing Coalition shall:

16) consider introduction of additional health insurance based on voluntary health contracts for the purpose of promoting health behaviour and thus reducing medical expenses;

17) expand the national cancer prevention programme and initiate a programme for preventing cardiovascular diseases;

Financing and management of health care

The Governing Coalition firmly finds that the health insurance resources of the Health Insurance Fund are meant for treatment and the pay of health care professionals must be competitive.

The Governing Coalition shall:

18) in order to increase the availability of health care services, review the former practice of payment of benefits for incapacity for work;

19) grant people who do not have health insurance access to family doctor services;

20) make financing hospitals more transparent by making the price of health services cost-based;

21) lay the foundations for improvement of the quality of health services, take measures for prevention of provision of hospitals with excessive medical equipment and co-finance the modernisation of hospitals on the basis of the hospital network development plan;

22) adopt and implement the E-health Act, which enhances introduction of information technology solutions (digital registration, digital disease/health file, digital prescription, televisit, jointly used database of medical photographs, etc.) by offering new modern diagnosis and treatment solutions to the people of Estonia.

Dental care

The priority of the Governing Coalition in dental care is children and pensioners, including persons receiving pension for incapacity for work.

The Governing Coalition shall:

23) launch a prevention programme at the nursery school level, expanding the prevention programme to other age groups;

24) commence educating oral hygiene specialists who help us to become aware of the optimum oral and dental health and help us to achieve the optimum oral and dental health for children;

Medicinal products

The Governing Coalition considers it important to increase the availability of modern medicinal products. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

25) ensure fair and free competition in the trade of medicinal products;

26) increase the transparency of medicinal products upon switching medicinal products to the list of medicinal products compensated for by the Health Insurance Fund;

Supporting repressed persons

27) the Governing Coalition shall simplify the procedure for payment of health benefits provided for in the Persons Repressed by Occupation Regimes Act and combine all former benefits into one annual benefit;

Prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS

The Governing Coalition shall:

28) ensure the implementation of the National Strategy for Combating and Prevention of HIV/AIDS 2006-2015. First of all the Governing Coalition shall focus on prevention among young people and parents in order to prevent infection with HIV. The Governing Coalition undertakes to reduce the number of new cases of HIV infections to the average level of the European region per million residents (50-70 cases a year).

Energy policy

An energy-intense economy affects Estonia’s competitiveness and worsens the condition of the environment. Estonia would like to be a pioneer in reducing the climate effects and increasing energy efficiency in the world. The goal of the Governing Coalition is to ensure Estonia’s energy independence and through it, Estonia’s national security, and preparation of Estonia for gradual replacement of oil shale as a non-renewable resource in the energy balance.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) start updating the Fuel and Energy Sector Long-term Development Plan in 2007;

2) support the production and use of renewable energy, including bio-fuels and the transition to dispersed production;

3) develop international cooperation in renewable energy in the field of technology development as well as energy trade;

4) start mapping the renewable energy resources and evaluation of potentials and an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the technical solutions; commission a national renewable energy environmental impact assessment and thematic plan;

5) draft the terms and conditions of competition for companies to participate in the business of renewable energy in state-planned and state-owned areas;

6) in 2007 adopt the Energy Research Programme for Promotion of Sustainable Consumption of Energy and Reduction of Energy Losses 2007-2013 and adopt the Energy-conserving Home Support Programme by 2009;

7) participate in establishing the single European electricity market. Support the integration of the Estonian energy system into Scandinavian energy systems and apply the infrastructure support funds of the European Union for funds for establishing connections ensuring energetic security in the Baltic Sea region;

8) ensure the operation of the transmission network of Eesti Energia as an independent system operator;

9) support an open electricity market. Make preparations for opening and open the electricity market as of 2009 to the extent of 35% and as of 2013 to the extent of 100%;

10) decide on participation in nuclear cooperation with Lithuania and Finland based on consensus among the parties to the Governing Coalition, carrying out thorough environmental impact assessments and research before making the final decision, comparing the long-term cost-effectiveness of nuclear energy with other energy sources. The entirety of the research information shall be published and a public discussion shall be organised before making a decision.

Environmental policy

The goal of the environmental policy of the Coalition Government is to ensure a clean and naturally diverse human environment for the people of Estonia and preservation of this environment from generation to generation.

The Governing Coalition proceeds from the understanding that the human being is a part of the natural environment and aims at a reasonable balance between environmental protection and other social targets. In the case of a conflict between economic interests and publicly and clearly reasoned environmental protection interests the preference should be given to environmental protection.
In attainment of this goal the Governing Coalition shall lay special emphasis on:
· sustainable use of mineral and natural resources;
· energy conservation;
· clean innovation;
· promoting an environmentally-friendly way of thinking among the people of Estonia;
· targeted, publicly estimated and reasonable limitation and direction of the use of the environment;
· active measures for protecting and restoring the diversity of nature.
Estonian legislation regulating the use of the environment shall be clear and targeted. To that end the Governing Coalition shall draft and adopt the Estonian Environmental Code. Estonia shall stand for the development of the environmental law of the European Union towards greater clarity, generality and unambiguity. The Governing Coalition shall ensure a broad-based public discussion of all environmental legislation and decisions.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) stipulate in the Earth’s Crust Act and extraction permits the obligation of maximum use of the related mineral resources and storage of the soil and earth in such a manner, which allows for their reuse;

2) establish that the maximum amount of oil shale extracted annually be 15 million tons;

3) make the mapping and registration of drinking water, sand, clay, gravel, peat and other resources the state’s duty and make the National Development Plan the basis for extracting these resources;

4) continue to implement the ecological tax reform, make the “polluter pays” principle and the system of inspection of compliance with the waste recovery requirement effective. The Governing Coalition shall increase pollution charges and resource fees, incl. those pertaining to the use of oil shale;

5) consider using a resource securities mechanism for diversification of the economy and introduction of sustainable and energy-conserving technologies;

6) promote and expand the use of public transport;

7) expand the construction of light traffic roads;

8) continue preparations for transferring hazardous railway cargo and cargo reloading centres out of the downtown area in Tallinn, Tartu and other cities;

9) continue improvement of the quality of ambient air, including by reducing pollution generated by transportation and industry as well as noise pollution, and make air monitoring and all environmental monitoring information public;

10) support the competitiveness of domestic environmentally friendly bio-fuels in the market and launch a programme for supporting renewable fuel innovation and technology transfer. The Governing Coalition shall create the prerequisites for extensive introduction of motor fuels with renewable components;

11) continue public investments in order to ensure the availability of clean drinking water to all people, continue construction and renovation of water treatment plants in the most effective manner, using ecological technologies where possible. Take care of the quality of water intake and the good condition of bodies of water and their biota;

12) support the introduction of innovative technologies and research and application of the best possible environmentally friendly technology in Estonian industrial enterprises;

13) prohibit construction of new high voltage overhead transmission lines in densely populated areas;
14) bind real estate development in densely populated areas with the obligation to plant new vegetation;

15) support cleaning the ruins of kolkhoz, sovkhoz and military facilities originating from the Soviet period from the Estonian landscape;

15) modify the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Auditing Act in order to improve the supervision over the quality of environmental impact assessment;

16) make the work procedure and principles of financing the Environmental Investment Centre transparent;

18) improve the functionality of the network of protected areas and strengthen the monitoring of natural values, especially for the purpose of improving the protection of forests, wetlands and the coast, internal bodies of water and the sea;

19) complete the reform of nature conservation bodies, assigning to the State Nature Conservation Centre the obligation of governing the protected areas and granting it the rights of supervision;

19) reorganise the system of purchasing protected land for the state and the system of exchanging land by ensuring the transparency of the process;

20) support traditional management of heritage landscapes and communities;

21) support collective action of private forest owners by developing a system of incentives, support and regulations aimed at promoting sustainable and cost-effective forest management;

22) support the development of nature tourism;
Application of the best monitoring and supervision technology and high readiness for combating and preventing environmental risks
The Governing Coalition shall:

23) in the framework of the pollution prevention programme ensure the capacity of the relevant bodies, definition of their functions and their cooperativeness; demand that the owners of all Estonian ports and other civil engineering works which are in danger of being polluted ensure mandatory and actual readiness for initial abatement of pollution originating from themselves as well as other sources;

24) improve Estonia’s efforts in the framework of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea and cooperate with the states of the Baltic Sea in establishing a joint maritime pollution monitoring system;
Improvement of the work of the Environmental Inspectorate and stricter penal policy
25) increase the rights of environmental inspectors and restore the status of the assistant environmental inspector;

26) amend laws in such a manner that the actual sanctions for environmental crimes are in conformity with the damage caused to the environment;

Improvement of environmental management

27) ensure open competition in forestry, rural tourism and environmental business.

Rural life, regional and infrastructure development policy

The goal of the rural life, agricultural and regional policy of the Governing Coalition is to attain a high living standard in rural areas and a growth of well-paid jobs in the countryside. To that end the Governing Coalition focuses on the development of infrastructure, continued improvement of the business environment and training and counselling people. Thereby the Governing Coalition considers it important to cooperate with local authorities, local and village movements, associations, congregations, researchers and entrepreneurs.

To ensure Estonia’s balanced development the Governing Coalition shall:

1) improve the infrastructure, roads and energy supply in rural areas. Among other things, the Governing Coalition shall continue the reconstruction of the Tallinn-Tartu highway into a four-lane road. To that end the Governing Coalition shall draw up a preliminary design to the extent of the entire route and, not later than by 2011, build a four-lane road from Tallinn to Kose, the Tartu roundabout, a new traffic node in Mäo and commence the construction of a four-lane road from Kose to Mäo;

2) in the field of public transport, ensure taking passenger train traffic to a new qualitative level. To that end the Governing Coalition shall ensure that by 2011 it is possible to travel on the Tallinn-Narva and Tallinn-Tartu railway routes at a speed of 120 kph;

3) complete the surveys of the cost-effectiveness and environmental impact of building a permanent connection to Saaremaa Island and commence the construction of the permanent Saaremaa connection for the purpose of completing the connection by 2015;

4) increase the means of dust control on national roads with the aim of making all national roads of higher traffic intensity dust-free;

5) implement the programme for supporting construction of village infrastructure (wells, water works, etc.) with state financing to the extent of 100 million Estonian kroons a year, based on the principle that the state finances up to a third of the projects;

6) support improvement of connections with small islands.

Agriculture

The Governing Coalition shall:

1) support a quick reform of the market organisation of agriculture in the European Union towards free competition and equal treatment of all Member States. The Governing Coalition seeks the abolition of intra-Community production quotas in agriculture;

2) pays additional direct aid from the state budget for equalising the competition conditions pursuant to the maximum rates agreed on with the European Union in the Accession Treaty. If the European Union changes the CAP, the Governing Coalition will review the size of the additional direct aid paid out of the budget of the Estonian state;

3) support the emergence of non-agricultural business in the countryside and simplify application for support for non-agricultural start-up companies. Among other things, the Governing Coalition shall focus on the development of rural tourism, supporting investments in improving the competitiveness and service quality;

4) in order to enable the use of support for the benefit of the rural population, the Governing Coalition shall expand the counselling service and the service of agricultural advisers;

5) expand the circle of final recipients in order to increase the number of competitive agricultural producers, limit payment of investment support to 500,000 euros per applicant throughout all the measures throughout the entire financial perspective;

6) through cooperation between the public and private sectors, create a system of natural damage insurance; compensate natural damage only to those producers who participate in insuring their risks of agricultural harvests;

7) continue establishing the system of substitutive farmers;

8) support dispersed and extensive animal husbandry for the purpose of preservation of heritage landscapes characteristic of Estonia;

9) promote the production and marketing of organic products as new fields of agricultural activity and the development of production of energetic raw material. The Governing Coalition shall support the consumption of clean food, especially in schools and in the Defence Forces through the requirements established for respective competitive tenders;

The Governing Coalition shall terminate granting usufruct of the state's arable land and forest land along with the right of purchasing it. The Governing Coalition shall legalise uniform and transparent terms for transfer and lease of available land, which is in the ownership of the state and local authorities, according to which the ownership or right of use is transferred only by way of a public auction;

11) support cultural and economic joint action and village movement;

12) make sole proprietors, similarly to agricultural entrepreneurs, exempt from income tax in the case of sale of timber obtained from their own forest;

13) create legal bases for landowners for registration of their land as GMO-free land.

Estonian language protection policy

In its policy the Governing Coalition shall proceed from the conviction that state support of the Estonian language is a constitutional obligation.

The goal of the Governing Coalition is to implement a policy, which ensures constitutional protection of the Estonian language, expansion of its area of use and a growth of the number of users of the Estonian language. To that end the Governing Coalition shall plan and implement through 2007-2011 the following fiscal, economic and legal policy steps:

1) stipulate in the Preamble of the Constitution that in addition to the Estonian nation and culture the Estonian state shall ensure preservation of the Estonian language through time;

2) provide all residents of Estonia and people interested in the Estonian language with the opportunity to get help in studying and using the Estonian language;

3) nationally promote the use of the Estonian language in information technology applications by supporting software adaptation and translation of user interfaces;

4) increase state financing for the purpose of achievement of the following goals:
· further development of the public language advice system, including making advice about the Estonian language available through daily newspapers, mobile communications application and the Internet (Institute of the Estonian Language);
· development of Estonian terminology in new fields of research and technology and issuance of respective professional dictionaries (Institute of the Estonian Language and the Estonian Terminology Society);
· Compilation of an etymological dictionary of the Estonian language (Institute of the Estonian Language);
· research of Fenno-Ugric languages (Institute of the Estonian Language and University of Tartu);
5) ensure that Estonian language and literature magazines and major original Estonian children’s magazines are available to all school and public libraries and that children’s magazines are available to all nursery schools;

6) 6) for the purpose of valuating the Estonian language and works in Estonian the Governing Coalition shall raise the premium amount of the F. J. Wiedemann’s National Language Award to one million Estonian kroons and the premium amount of the National Culture Award for Life’s Work also to one million Estonian kroons;

7) create a special national programme for translating Estonian literature into foreign languages;

8) introduce an annual award of one million Estonian kroons to an educator whose contribution to the development of Estonian doctoral studies and research (teaching material and professional vocabulary) has been the highest;

9) develop a state programme, which harmonises the qualification requirements for speech therapists, determines the need for speech therapists in the state-commissioned education and changes speech therapists from an assistant employee to specialists who are paid a salary corresponding to their professional skills;

10) in order to ensure correct use of the language in the public sector, organise regular in-service training in the Estonian language for state officials and local government employees;

11) improve teaching of the Estonian language free of charge to teachers working in a school where the language of instruction is Russian and speed up the preparation of Estonian-speaking subject teachers for upper secondary schools where the language of instruction is Russian;

12) launch a permanent national notification campaign introducing the Estonian language, the possibilities of learning Estonian and the citizenship language examination in the Russian media and regular programmes on the Estonian language and literature in the Estonian public media;

13) expand the use of the language immersion methodology in Estonian schools (incl. basic and vocational schools) and nursery schools where the language of instruction is Russian. To that end, speed up the in-service training of teachers regarding the methodology of language immersion and preparation of new teachers who are familiar with the methodology of language immersion;

14) For the purpose of improvement of the Estonian skills of non-Estonians residing in Estonia:
· by 2010 the Governing Coalition shall double the volume of state funds allocated for organisation of children’s language camps;
· by 2010 double the volume of labour exchange projects in the framework of which teachers, police officers, librarians and other public servants working mainly in the Russian-speaking environment are sent to undergo practical training in an Estonian working environment;
· in addition to police officers and rescue workers, expand free language courses to other specialists of the public sector;

15) implement an effective national programme calling Estonians to return home;

16) support the use and dissemination of the Estonian language outside Estonia. To that end, promote the opportunities of learning the Estonian language and culture in the universities of the European Union, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Pskov and other universities;

17) open an Estonian school in Helsinki. Support the teaching of Estonian in Estonian schools in the Crimean, Suetuk, Stockholm, Toronto, Riga, Pechora and elsewhere (exchange of teachers and students, teacher training, textbooks), help to finance redecoration of Estonian school buildings in foreign countries and institute aid programmes for strengthening communication with Estonia;

18) finance the development of audiovisual programmes for learning oral Estonian in various languages by laying the basis for binding them to a widespread global language learning series;

19) annually allocate one million Estonian kroons from the state budget for publication of modern original Estonian poetry and prose in regional languages and one million Estonian kroons for researching the shape of the regional languages for the purpose of enriching the Estonian language and culture;

20) support the Language Inspectorate in their efforts to:
· persistently demand a good skill of the official language from those for whom it is mandatory in the public interests under the Language Act;
· demand that correct official language be used in the communication between the public authority and citizens.

The Governing Coalition shall:

21) make the use of native language software compulsory for the public sector and educational institutions. As for public procurement of software the general requirement shall be that the software purchased by state agencies and local authorities must have an Estonian user interface;

22) continue the digitalisation of major dictionaries and make them available on the Internet free of charge. Create a language website – a public language gate for learning and promoting Estonian and obtaining language advice (spell-check, dictionaries, language tips, databases, etc.). Start using compulsory digital copies of books published in Estonia. Undertake to commence development of integral automatic translation systems between the Estonian language and the most widespread foreign languages;

23) enhance digitalisation of the Estonian cultural heritage and local television and radio production. In this way we shall make Estonian cultural heritage available to all those interested in it throughout the world;

24) annually allocate 15 million Estonian kroons for development of digital native language technologies (voice recognition system, speech synthesis and applications based on it);

25) support the development of the web encyclopaedia of Eesti Entsüklopeedia, which would contain encyclopaedic articles as well as systematised information by subjects.

Ethnic minorities policy

The ethnic minorities policy of the Governing Coalition proceeds from the declaration that Estonia is a country of all its citizens. The goal of the ethnic minorities policy of the Governing Coalition is to provide all people, regardless of their nationality, with equal opportunities for successful management, development and welfare.

The Governing Coalition calls upon persons who have a permanent residence permit in Estonia and would like to bind their life to the Republic of Estonia – along with the respective rights and obligations – to choose citizenship of the Republic of Estonia.

The Governing Coalition finds that there are three pillars, which constitute the prerequisites for successful management of the ethnic minorities residing in Estonia:
· good skill of Estonian;
· preservation of the cultural identity and native language of the ethnic minorities;
· access to high-quality education and information.

To attain these goals the Governing Coalition shall:

1) upon implementation of the education reform of the upper secondary schools where the language of instruction is Russian, focus on attainment of the proficiency of the official language and competitive knowledge among the students;

2) ensure state supervision over the official language and civic studies examinations in the school where the language of instruction is Russian, so it is possible to apply for citizenship of the Republic of Estonia on the basis of the examination results;

3) enable all those who are interested in receiving Estonian training supported by the state (100% compensation for the costs incurred, provided that the person has participated in the studies and taken the examination);

4) ensure that non-Estonian disabled people, non-Estonian unemployed, non-Estonian pensioners and the least privileged non-Estonians can gain access to learning the official language, supported by the state;

5) provide non-Estonian public servants and education and cultural employees with professional in-service language training supported by the state;

6) launch an incentive programme for encouraging young teachers of Estonian and Estonian-speaking teachers of other subjects to commence employment in Ida-Viru County, Harju County, Valga County, etc., in schools where the language of instruction is Russian;

7) support the activities of the Russian Museum;

8) double the financing of the culture and cultural schools of ethnic minorities over the next four years;

9) support establishment of a joint Internet database of the cultural organisations of ethnic minorities;

10) support programmes for the regional development of the area round Lake Peipus with the aim of protecting and preserving the cultural characteristics of the Russian Old Believers and the socioeconomic development of the entire region;

11) for the purpose of better notification of Russians and other ethnic minorities support dissemination of information about Estonia in Russian, including opening the news portal of the public broadcasting in Russian;

12) provide ethnic minorities with the opportunity to use native language subtitled in public digital television channels.

Information society promotion policy

The basis for a successful civil society is people’s access to information and the chance to have a say in decision-making. Broad introduction of information technology allows us to lead a sustainable life and save the environment. The goal of the Governing Coalition is to implement a policy that would ensure consistent development of information society.

The Governing Coalition aims at faster development of information society in Estonia.

In its policy the Governing Coalition proceeds from the conviction that development of information society is in the interests of all of society and creates a better human environment for everyone.

The Governing Coalition considers it important to promote the best achievements of Estonia’s information society abroad.

WE SHALL ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY OF THE INTERNET AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) provide all public sector PCs and Public Internet Points with ID card readers by 2008. In each library, city government and rural municipality government a person must have access to a computer which has an Internet connection and an ID card reader;

2) establish conditions for moving from the city to live and work in the countryside and the conditions for telecommuting, and to make the Internet available to each Estonian home and business. Each Estonian home and business must have, at a reasonable price, access to a fast Internet connection, which helps the people of Estonia to have a say in information society and ensure the competitiveness of Estonian companies;

3) enable free wireless Internet in the centre of each local authority by 2010 by establishing a respective public service standard. Similarly to entire Estonia having been covered with a mobile telecommunications network, it shall be possible to use free wireless Internet in all city and rural municipality centres;

WE SHALL ENSURE THE EDUCATION REQUIRED FOR MANAGING IN INFORMATION SOCIETY

The Governing Coalition shall, so students and teachers alike can make good use of the tools of the information society:

4) give each teacher a laptop computer and launch a programme aimed at granting each student as of the last form of the basic school technical access to computers and the Internet at home and at school;

5) legislate that as a part of the secondary education students will receive AO/ECDL certificate as of 2009;

6) support development and use of Estonian learning software and Estonian web learning environments, which involves teacher training;

7) make textbooks and workbooks available on the Internet for free use, reading, downloading and printing. The state shall acquire user rights for public use from the authors;

So that all people would have equal access to the possibilities of the information society the Governing Coalition shall:

8) in cooperation with the private sector, provide everyone interested with basic training in using a computer and electronic use of an ID card, i.e. people of the working age as well as pensioners;

9) develop and implement a programme for involving people with special needs in the information society;
CONSISTENT DEVELOPMENT OF E-STATE

10) the state shall communicate with citizens through electronic channels if the citizen is able to identify himself or herself with sufficient security. The state shall not force citizens to visit state agencies, except in exceptional circumstances if the procedure cannot be carried out without physically meeting the person;

11) the state shall not obligate citizens to prove their rights using physical documents – a competent official shall verify the rights of the person by using data communications equipment and databases. At a citizen's request the state shall issue him or her a document electronically, unless the requirements of issuing the document preclude this;

12) ensure that by 2008 the public services will be available to citizens and entrepreneurs at www.eesti.ee, incl. foundation of a company in two hours, registration of the change of the place of residence, application for documents, application for admission to a school or nursery school, application for support provided by the state and local authorities, all plans, etc. All plans and their drafts, environmental impact assessments and other document important to the community shall be published on the website. Those who request it shall be notified of the processes affecting the human environment of their place of residence;

13) make the settlement in the public sector paper free by 2010, i.e. based on e-invoices. The Governing Coalition shall establish that not later than in 2010 the companies rendering a service to the state can only e-invoice the state and the state shall establish a suitable Internet environment for e-settlements by that time. The Governing Coalition shall establish a goal that public tenders can be submitted only electronically;

14) make records management within the public sector paper free by 2011 and ensure the mobility of data between cross-usage databases;

15) upon commissioning information systems, the state shall proceed from the principle that the system must not be bound to a specific supplier and that it can be developed further and used throughout the state sector without restrictions;

16) all e-services shall be equally usable in the most widespread operating systems;

17) develop further the infrastructure based on the ID card, notifying the citizens of its possibilities and promoting new solutions, and by modernisation of the legislative environment support further development and introduction of secure technologies of electronic identification.

Cultural policy

The Governing Coalition shall pursue a cultural policy, which contributes to the survival and development of the nation and state.

For ensuring the vitality of professional and amateur culture throughout Estonia the Governing Coalition shall:

1) increase the role of artistic associations and cultural societies in the social dialogue;

2) ensure the vitality of song and dance festivals through constant financing of the song and dance movement in between the festivals. To that end the Governing Coalition shall double the funding of children’s choirs, children’s dance groups and children’s orchestras;

3) increase the support to the national culture;

4) value heritage culture and music as well as promotion and teaching thereof;

5) support from the state budget the transparent and systematic funding of professional theatres that are of importance from the point of view of national culture, regardless of their form of ownership and activity;

6) promote the development of the national film industry and broadcasting culture, among other things doubling the funds allocated from the state budget to the Estonian Film Foundation for producing films;

7) continue restoration of the network of cinemas, which allows for enjoying professional movies throughout Estonia. The Governing Coalition shall establish a repertoire-based support system for cinemas and promote the dissemination of non-mainstream films, including dissemination of Estonian films;

8) raise the National Culture Award for Life’s Work to one million Estonian kroons;

9) improve the possibilities of public libraries to acquire valuable literature and audio and video materials, incl. in digital form;

10) strongly support introduction of Estonian culture abroad, open Estonian cultural representations and enable our artists to participate in international cultural projects through various cultural programmes;

11) create a single and modern National Broadcasting, which increases interest in creating, developing and consuming culture, and contributes to the preservation of the Estonian language. Digitalise television broadcasts by 2012, making consumption of high quality culture more convenient and accessible for everyone.

For the purpose of preservation and creation of cultural values and development of heritage conservation the Governing Coalition shall:

12) continue erection of cultural buildings that are of importance for the people of Estonia and preservation of the existing buildings. The Governing Coalition shall commence construction of the Estonian National Museum in the Raadi district in Tartu;

13) legislate that 1% of the amounts allocated for investments in buildings considered public space commissioned by the state shall be used for targeted commissioning of works of art and design aimed at enriching the public space;

14) preserve historical architectural heritage, including:
· quadruple the amounts of the programme for restoration of places of worship and churches, raising them to no less than 100 million Estonian kroons per year;
· continue the manor architecture restoration programme and restoration of other architectural heritage;

15) enhance the digitalisation of the archives of museums and libraries.

Sports policy

The goal of the sports policy of the Governing Coalition is to create prerequisites for the dignified, healthy and long life of the people of Estonia through promotion of amateur and recreational sports. The Governing Coalition considers it important to introduce movement habits and sports among children as a means of keeping young people away from consumption of alcohol, tobacco and narcotics. It is important to provide everyone with diverse means of practising sports throughout their life, laying a solid and broad basis for our future top athletes and Olympic gold medallists.

To attain these goals the Governing Coalition shall:

1) develop an exercise and swimming support programme for pregnant women and small children. Organise repetitive courses for all children of the sixth form in addition to the national programme of teaching all children of the second form how to swim;

2) develop the sports infrastructure according to plan:
· in cooperation with local authorities help to create new recreational sports parks and running, skiing, cycling and hiking tracks close to one's home in cooperation with local authorities;
· support the construction of stadiums, swimming pools and sports centres – there must be at least one stadium and sports facility which complies with the modern requirements in each county in Estonia;
· promote the development of natural opportunities for amateur sports;

3) continue improvement of the national funding system, which brought success in competitive sports by considerably increasing the state support;

4) develop the Tehvandi Sports Centre into a modern health and top sports centre;

5) support top athletes and provide them with competitive training conditions and possibilities for participating in title competitions;

6) create a national support system for supporting the organisation of major international sports events, including European and world championships and world cup competitions and support their organisation in Estonia;

7) consistently create opportunities of practicing sports for people with special needs and support their sports activities.

Internal security

The goal of the internal security policy of the Governing Coalition is to ensure Estonia’s constitutional order, internal peace and stability and successfully protect peoples’ lives, health and assets. To that end the Governing Coalition shall plan and implement through 2007-2011 the following economic and legal policy steps:

1) similarly to the Criminal Policy Goals of the state, have the Riigikogu adopt the Security Policy Goals until 2015. The Minister of the Interior shall submit annual overviews of implementation thereof to the Riigikogu;

2) terminate unnecessary duplication between various ministries and agencies:
· guide the activities of criminal agencies towards the crimes that generate new crimes (crimes committed against and by juveniles and organised crime, incl. trafficking in persons, narcotics, corruption and money laundering);
· plan the state resources for criminal proceedings pursuant to the national priorities of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior;
· merge the Centre of Criminalistics and Centre of Forensic Science into an agency in the area of government of the Ministry of Justice as of January 2008;
· improve the structure and duties of investigative bodies. The priority of the Governing Coalition is modern and motivated Central Criminal Police. The salary of investigators of especially complicated crimes shall be made competitive;

3) adopt the Law and Order Maintenance Act, which clearly specifies, as can be expected of a modern European state, the rights and obligations of natural persons, companies and non-profit associations, state and local authorities in ensuring a secure human environment; create the opportunity to involve, where necessary, citizens’ associations in ensuring the security of society through contracts under public law, including the Neighbourhood Watch, the Defence League and local authorities and companies;

4) develop an information and communication environment necessary for the work of all internal security agencies, including complete the E-file development programme in all types of proceedings (criminal, misdemeanour, administrative and civil proceedings) and expand to all institutions relating to internal security the possibility of use of the national operative radio communications to be established;

5) upon developing the staff ensuring internal security, make good professional training and improvement of communications skills a priority. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:
· modernise the internal security training system, incl. create all possibilities for training investigation and surveillance officials;
· Develop the Public Service Academy as an institution of professional higher education;
· develop master’s and doctoral studies on the basis of national universities for the purpose of obtaining knowledge required in the internal security system;
· ensure training the top specialists of internal security in the world’s best centres of preparation.

6) considerably increase Estonia’s readiness to react to major accidents. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:
· involve the Defence Forces and organisations of volunteers in increasing the reaction readiness;
· update the Emergency Preparedness Act and the national crisis management system, incl. create a system of training volunteers, providing technical equipment and tools and remuneration through involving non-governmental organisations as well;
· provide internal security agencies with the best possible technology and equipment;
· lay the foundations for functioning cooperation between research institutions and national industry (especially high-tech industry);

7) develop a high professional level of internal security through active international cooperation, incl. by providing training assistance;

8) by 2011 implement a prison reform. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:
· integrate the prison system and probation supervision into an integral chain which is aimed at re-socialisation of convicted offenders and support business relating to social rehabilitation;
· introduce in the legal order a principle according to which a dangerous criminal can, with the permission of the court, be kept in prison even after serving the sentence;
· build the new Tallinn Prison in Maardu;
· increase employment among prisoners;

9) ensure state legal aid in criminal proceedings with an assigned defence counsel and clarify the responsibilities of the Bar Association upon organisation of assigned defence;

10) improve the availability of state legal aid and increase people’s awareness of the possibilities of obtaining state aid;

11) establish a goal of legislative regulation of private detective services;

12) improve investigation of competition crimes and establish immunity and pardon programme for detection of competition crimes;

13) take steps for preventing and combating corruption, including:
- adopt a new Anti-corruption Act;
- make declaration of economic interests substantive and electronic;
- heads of state agencies and local authorities will be given the right to demand that their employees submit a declaration and refusal to do so will be made a basis for termination of the employment or service relationship;

14) update the Government’s anti-corruption strategy in 2007, stipulating additional measures for prevention of corruption and focussing more on combating corruption in the private sector, local authorities and upon using the funds of the European Union. The Governing Coalition shall pay more attention to ensuring the legal order in Ida-Viru County;

15) return to the Security Police Board the obligation to investigate corruption in larger cities and rural municipalities;

16) improve traffic safety-related prevention work by focussing on the introduction of new technologies and differentiating punishments for traffic offences;

Foreign policy

The goal of the foreign policy of the Governing Coalition is to ensure the growth of Estonia’s security and welfare and contribute to stability and justice in the world.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) upon shaping and implementing the foreign policy act in the national interests of Estonia, incl. ensuring the security of the state and citizens, making Estonia more known in the world, increasing Estonia's involvement in the world and creating better opportunities for our entrepreneurs in global competition;

2) consolidate good relations with the United States. Estonia shall continue to pursue an active policy for consolidation of the strategic partnership between the European Union and the United States, supporting the idea of signing the Transatlantic Partnership.

3) support the strengthening of the cooperation between the Baltic States and emphasise regional cooperation in Baltoskandia, which unites the Baltic States and the Nordic countries;

4) find the all-inclusive unique cooperation between Estonia and Finland to be important;

5) pursue a consistent policy with regard to Russia and support concrete and practical initiatives for developing relationships between Estonia and Russia;

6) expand Estonia’s foreign policy and diplomatic capacity in various regions of the world, incl. establish two embassies in the Middle East in 2008, commence opening a representation in Moldova, Romania and in one Western Balkan state in 2009, development of a fully functional embassy in Georgia and Bulgaria in 2008, construction of new embassy buildings in Peking and Riga;

7) reduce keeping embassies in leased premises and invest in purchasing new embassy buildings;

8) actively engage in increasing people’s awareness of and condemning the crimes of Communism and Nazism, contributing to the establishment of an international centre investigating the crimes of communism, finance such research, films and exhibitions;

9) increase the analytical capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and support the development of foreign and security policy think tanks into renowned international research centres. The public media shall obtain sufficient support from the state to open correspondent points in the main centres of the world;

10) use Estonia’s foreign missions to a greater extent for supporting Estonian companies operating abroad and for increasing Estonia’s economic activity. The Governing Coalition shall supports Estonian communities located outside Estonia for the purpose of ensuring their sustainability, upon obtaining Estonian education, and ensuring their better management, especially outside the European Union;

11) strengthen Estonia’s foreign missions with consular staff;

12) increase the network of Estonia’s honorary consuls throughout the world;

13) follow the well-being of the Fenno-Ugric nations living in Russia and keep the topic hot in international organisations. Support the native language educational institutions of Fenno-Ugric nations;

14) enhance joint action with other states for ensuring energy and environmental security;

15) increase Estonia’s contribution to international development cooperation and development aid; upon extension of the Iraq mission, take the mandate and principles of the UN Security Council, the international security situation and Estonia's national interests into account;

16) considers it important to increase Estonia’s activeness in the UN, among other things, running for various UN bodies.

EUROPE’S INTERESTS ARE OUR INTERESTS

It is in the national interests of Estonia to work towards shaping a common security, foreign and energy policy. A strong Europe means a strong Estonia. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

17) support full elimination of intra-European economic borders and restrictions on competition, abolishment of labour market restrictions, while preserving tax competition and other measures, which help to make the European Union stronger and more opened and give new development opportunities for the Estonian economy;

18) support closer cooperation and harmonisation of laws between the Member States in the field of internal affairs and justice;

19) support rapid movement towards real shaping and implementation of the common policies of the European Union, especially regarding the foreign and security policy and energy policy;

20) actively participates in shaping the European Union’s policy towards its neighbours. The Governing Coalition shall support democratic and market economy reforms in the Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and other states. The Governing Coalition shall cooperate closely with the democratic forces of Belarus;

21) support further enlargement of the European Union, considering it important to pursue an open-door policy with regard to the Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. All European states that would like it and correspond to the criteria required for accession should have the possibility to join the European Union;

22) in the framework of the Nordic Dimension of the European Union, support the development of economic, transportation, environmental and cultural projects in Russia and the development of the Baltic Sea strategy of the European Union;

23) support the development of EU's common strategy with regard to China, India and other important global partners. We consider it important to develop a common African policy of the EU, which would promote democracy and economic development, increase security and reduce illegal immigration to Europe in this continent.

Membership in NATO ensures our military security and means that Estonia is ready to participate in strengthening international security. NATO must remain a strong organisation of collective defence and be the organisation of the first choice in resolving crises which require military regulation. To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

24) support the continuance of the open-door policy in NATO and share Estonia’s experience in becoming a member of NATO with the states who need it;

25) support closer cooperation with the strategic partners (Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea);

26) continue participating in NATO's priority mission in Afghanistan (ISAF);

27) support developing NATO’s capacities for combating new security threats (terrorism, trafficking in arms, narcotics and persons, natural and humanitarian catastrophes);

28) be ready to organise a meeting of the foreign ministers of NATO in Tallinn in 2008.

Defence policy

The goal of the national defence policy of the Governing Coalition is to ensure Estonia’s security and military protection in the most effective manner, which takes contemporary and strategic threats into account.

International cooperation is indivisible and the main guarantor of Estonia’s security is international cooperation. The defence of Estonia cannot be separated from NATO or the defence policy of the EU and the development of the Defence Forces must be a part of the international whole.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) develop the Defence Forces towards modernity, mobility and rapid reaction capacity and emphasise the development of specialised capacities;

2) actively and reliably perform its international ally obligations. Take the national defence expenditure to 2% of the GDP by 2010. Ensure participation in NATO’s rapid reaction forces NRF14 to the extent of a third of a battalion and in the Nordic Battle Group by 2011;

3) plan the size, reserves and infrastructure of the Defence Forces pursuant to present defence needs and financial and human resources. The Governing Coalition shall develop a uniform system for recruitment of members of the Defence Forces;

4) develop military units by ensuring high quality and modern training centres and high quality training conditions (incl. military training areas, simulation and training systems), non-work and sports facilities;

5) analyse the possibility of shortening the time of minimal compulsory military service;

6) ensure regular training of reservists and estimate the size of the reserves realistically, according to training and usability. The Governing Coalition shall create operative mobilisation and civil and military cooperation plans for crisis situations;

7) apply the principle of civil management without deviation. Implements required regulations,–notably adopts the Defence Forces Organisation Act and updates the Peace-time National Defence Act in order to give the Minister of Defence political and legislative opportunities for taking responsibility for the activities of the Defence Forces;

8) consider air surveillance as a priority of the Air Force and continuance of NATO's air surveillance. In the composition of the Air Force the Governing Coalition shall create a common national search and rescue service corresponding to NATO’s standards, which also performs civil duties (search and rescue of humans, transport of the ill, monitoring fire and pollution, etc.). The Governing Coalition shall reconstruct the Ämari Airport so it is suitable for NATO cooperation and the host country;

9) continue the present development of the Navy and develop the Mine Port;

10) considerably increase the financing and the role of the Defence League upon performance of military and civil duties, ensuring suitable cooperation with civil structures. Develops the Defence League into an effective and reliable territorial system;

11) ensure the ability of the Defence League to participate in international missions;

12) strengthen the ability of cooperation of the Defence League upon solving civil crises jointly with volunteers, ensuring the mobility and training of the units of the Defence League and providing the minimum equipment required to that end; cover the expenses relating to the training of the members of the Defence League and acquisition of modern equipment; initiate a system for remuneration of volunteers;

13) ensure the availability of the teaching of national defence in schools and increase the role of the Defence League in increasing the awareness of national defence and the will of defence;

14) pay special attention to the activities of the youth organisations of the Defence League, ensuring actual cooperation with the education system;

15) initiate the rotation of members of the Defence Forces between the Defence league and the Defence Forces;

16) continue and expand participation in international defence-related research and development, mostly through NATO's research and technology research organisations;

17) remember Estonia's fight for its freedom, value freedom fighting as the basis for Estonia's independence and present rapid development and support erection of monuments remembering veterans of armed and unarmed combat and freedom fighting. The Governing Coalition shall have the cemetery of the Defence Forces put in order;

18) open a monument of the Estonian War of Independence in Vabaduse Square in Tallinn by the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.

Legal policy

The goal of the legal policy of the Governing Coalition is the defence and development of free organisation of society, rule of law and market economy.

To that end the Governing Coalition shall:

1) adopt a new Public Service Act. The number of public servants shall be decreased considerably, expanding the possibilities of working in state and local authority agencies on the basis of an employment contract;

2) make judicial proceedings more effective. To that end it shall be invested in information and communications technology solutions and if necessary, procedural laws shall be specified. Conciliation procedures shall be legalised;

3) continue to integrate the court system into a whole;

4) codify social law (Social Code), Environmental law (Environmental Code) and building and planning law (Building Code);

5) improve representation of the state in the European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights and International Criminal Court;

6) continue to pursue the former citizenship and immigration policy;

7) complete the private law reform, adopting the new Law of Succession Act and Family Act;

8) create a system for evaluation of the impact of legislation. A revision of the effective legislation shall be carried out and unnecessary legislation shall be repealed;

9) upon appointment of the members of the supervisory boards of the state-owned companies, foundations and public institutions proceed from the internationally acknowledged good practice according to which the supervisory boards of state-owned companies comprise of entrepreneurs or experts independent of the state.

Civil society and statehood

The Governing Coalition considers strengthening civil society important in the development of the state, sees civic associations as its partners in developing Estonia and holds an active dialogue with civic associations operating at the state level. Due to demographic reasons Estonia cannot allow for increasing the state apparatus. The Estonian state shall strengthen not only through creation of new agencies and recruiting new public servants, but through involving citizens and civic associations in state administration and introducing new technologies.

The Governing Coalition shall:

1) realise the positions of the Estonian Civil Society Development Concept adopted by the Riigikogu.

2) analyse the possibility to legalise before the elections of the councils of local authorities in 2009 the institution of initiating a process of direct democracy for the purpose of cancellation of a decisions of councils of local authorities;

3) carry out a notification campaign in order to notify citizens of the possibility to support civil society and to donate to civic associations;

4) clarify the procedure for deduction of amounts donated to civic associations from taxable income;

5) not later than by 1 January 2008 form the Civil Society Endowment aimed at supporting civil society and finance it from the state budget with 20 million Estonian kroons annually. Distribution of support shall be delegated to the umbrella organisations of civic associations;

6) place the development of civil society in the area of government of the Ministry of the Interior and create an integrated vision and common principles for financing non-governmental associations. To that end the present office of the Minister of Regional Affairs shall be reorganised, adding the function of development of public services, civil society and regional policy;

7) in cooperation with non-governmental organisations draft a civil education plan for no less than five years;

8) promote joint action and, where possible, transfer state functions to civil associations on the basis of contracts under public law;

9) support the partnership between the state and local government associations and strengthening local government associations. Legalise a decision-making mechanism in local government associations ensuring the balance of the interests of small rural municipalities and cities;

10) protect everyone’s privacy and personal data;

11) for the purpose of increasing the participation of citizens extend the period of e-elections in all elections;

12) act with the purpose of improving the reputation of political parties, among other things, creating opportunities for involving political parties in attainment of the goals of the neighbourhood policy of the European Union;

13) improve parliamentary supervision over financing political parties and election expenses and analyse the effectiveness of the existing advertising limits of election campaigns;

14) make a proposal for naming the Tallinn International Airport after Lennart Meri.

Andrus Ansip, Estonian Reform Party, Chairman
Mart Laar, Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica, Chairman
Ivari Padar, Estonian Social Democratic Party, Chairman