National Reform Programme ESTONIA 2020

The National Reform Programme ESTONIA 2020 is a national multi-sectoral programme for the period 2011-2020. The two central objectives of the Programme are increasing productivity and employment in Estonia. The main focus in the coming years is on education and employment, with an emphasis on the integration of the young or long-term unemployed people in the labour market and on the development of their skills as well as on measures to promote productivity and improvements to the business environment. Specifically, it provides for implementing long-term structural changes in the energy sector in accordance with Estonia’s energy security and energy efficiency objectives; reducing the general resource and energy intensity of the economy; formulating a policy to facilitate long-term increase in the international competitiveness of companies; creating an appropriate environment to attract more direct foreign investments into sectors with greater export potential and added value; creating preconditions for increasing the volumes of research and development in the private sector and raising the number and quality of innovation outputs; broader use of the potential of creative industries, ICT and other key technologies to increase the added value of other sectors; developing human resources engaged in research and ensuring a future supply of engineers and top-level specialists; bringing transportation, ICT and other public infrastructure, living environment and institutions that support business to an international level.
‘Estonia 2020’ is updated annually by a government decision at the end of April. The revisions made in the spring of 2019 take into account the statistics for the indicators related to the progress made in achieving the objectives, the country-specific recommendations made in the context of the European Semester, inter-ministerial discussions, a plan concerning the use of aid in the EU 2014–2020 budget period, as well as the priorities of the new coalition government’s Action Plan. As well as the challenges specified at meetings between the Prime Minister and government ministers.