Estonia Is The Most Northerly of The Three Baltic States, and Has Linguistic Ties With Finland
Estonia Is The Most Northerly of The Three Baltic States, and Has Linguistic Ties With Finland
Estonia Is The Most Northerly of The Three Baltic States, and Has Linguistic Ties With Finland
Political Outline
Executive Power
The President is the chief of the state and is elected by
parliament for a five-year term. The President is the
commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He/she
nominates the Prime Minister after approval by parliament
(generally leader of the majority party or coalition), for a 4
year term. Prime Minister is the head of the government
and also holds the executive powers which include
implementation of the law in the country and running the
day-to-day affairs. The Council of Ministers is appointed
by the Prime Minister, approved by parliament.
Since regaining independence in 1991, Estonia has
progressed rapidly both in terms of internal modernisation
and its external integration. Parliamentary elections
determine the composition of the 101-member Riigikogu
(Parliament), with the current coalition government of the
Centre Party, centre-left Social Democratic Party and
centre-right Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica forming
the current government in November 2016.
Main Political Parties
Estonia has a multi-party system. Political parties often
work together to form coalition governments. Generally,
the major political forces in the country are:
- Reform Party: centre-right, conservative liberalism,
largest represented political faction
- Centre Party: centre-left, populist, has always secured
parliamentary representation following independence
- Res Publica-Pro Patria Union (IRL): ring-wing,
conservative
- Social Democratic Party (SDE): centre-left, promotes
social democracy
Current Political Leaders:
President: Kersti Kaljulaid (since 10 October 2016)
Prime Minister: Jüri Ratas (since 23 November 2016) -
Centre Party
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2021
State Assembly: 2019
ICT
shared services
mechanical engineering
electronics
smart mobility
small craft building
logistics
wood
gaming industry
Legislative Power
The legislature in Estonia is unicameral. The
parliament called State Assembly has 101 seats
with its members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms. The State Assembly is the highest
organ of state authority. It initiates and approves
legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister. The
government is directly or indirectly dependent on
the support of the parliament, often expressed
through a vote of confidence. The government
cannot dissolve the parliament but can recommend
the same to President who has to take parliament
into confidence before taking a decision. The
citizens of Estonia enjoy considerable political
rights. Estonia is among the world's leaders in e-
governance and features an impressively
transparent system in which government decisions
are almost instantly made available on the
Internet.
The Judiciary is independent in Estonia, and
generally free from government influence. The
main source of the law is the Constitution of June
1992. The legal system is based on civil law
system. No judicial review of legislative acts takes
place in the country. Estonia being a member of
the European Union, the national law in the
country needs to comply with the conditions of the
Community legislation. Estonia accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction, but with reservations.
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a state in the Baltic
region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the
Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by
Latvia at 343 km, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia at
338.6 km. Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and
Finland in the north. Its capital and largest is Tallinn.
Estonia had population of 1.312 million in the year 2016 and
expected to reach 1.289 million by 2022. Estonia’s around
0.645 million was employed in 2016 and the unemployment
rate was 6.911% of total labor force.
Estonia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) was around Euro
17.747 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was Euro
20.916 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 117.86. Per capita
GDP was estimated at USD 17632.70 whereas purchasing
power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be
at USD 29312.90.
The output gap for Estonia in 2016 was negative at 1.085% of
the potential GDP. In 2016, Estonia government’s revenue was
Euro 8.507 billions whereas the expenditure was Euro 8.45
billions. This resulted Estonia government’s net lending /
borrowing at Euro 0.057 billion in 2016 indicating that enough
financial resources were made available by the government to
boost economic growth.
The current account balance for Estonia was estimated to be at
USD 0.613 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to decline
at a CAGR of 202.71% and reach USD 0.598 by 2022.
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