The European Commission will refer Estonia to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failure to transpose the European Competition Network (ECN+) Directive into national legislation, ERR reports. The ECN+ Directive enables national competition authorities to enforce EU antitrust rules more effectively by ensuring their independence, resources, and enforcement tools. EU member states were required…
Estonia’s state budget deficit is likely to be smaller than forecast in 2023, the Ministry of Finance announced, ERR reports. In the first five months of 2023, budget revenues increased more than expected due to the rapid growth of wages and rise in prices. Tax revenue was 10% higher than a year earlier. At the…
Newspaper and magazine sales in Estonia fell in June 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, according to data from the Estonian Association of Media Enterprises (EML), ERR reports. Õhtuleht sold 32,000 (35,000) copies, followed by Maaleht with 31,700 (33,600), Eesti Ekspress with 19,000 (20,600), and Eesti Päevaleht with 8,600 (10,000) copies. Postimees stopped…
Estonia needs proactive legislation to restrict “harmful foreign media outlets,” in addition to sanctions imposed on Russia, Andres Jõesaar, media adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Culture, stated, ERR reports. He conceded that the recent controversial proposal by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) to monitor media bias was “badly worded.” However, Jõesaar…
Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, suggested that local businessman Parvel Pruunsild, majority owner of Bigbank, made major donations to opposition parties in order to break up the first coalition government that Kallas headed, ERR reports. In response, Pruunsild’s lawyer sent a letter to Kallas, demanding that she retract her statement and issue an apology. Kallas…
The Estonian government wants to bring forward Estonia’s EU presidency, now slated for 2031, BNS reports. The government argues that organising the EU presidency would be difficult as Estonia will hold parliamentary elections that year. Estonia is due to preside over the EU Council for the first half of 2031. The government suggests switching the…
Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp’s digital subscriptions totalled 175,379 at the end of the first half of 2023, which was nearly 34,000 (24%) more than in the same period of 2022, GlobeNewswire reported. The number of subscriptions rose by 9% in the second quarter of 2023 and 20% in the first six months of 2023….
The Estonian government has announced an emergency situation in the country’s agriculture sector due to adverse weather conditions in recent years, ERR reports. The declaration will ease regulatory and contractual obligations for farmers and other agricultural businesses, but will not entail financial support measures. Estonia has experienced exceptionally low rainfall and high temperatures in recent…
The Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (RKIK) of the Ministry of Defence has called for tenders for the purchase of mobile field hospitals for an estimated EUR 150mn, BNS reports. Under the eight-year contract, RKIK will procure mobile bandaging stations, mobile field hospitals, individual modules and spare parts, repair, maintenance, and development services, and user…