Ilves on administrative reform: The job is only halfway done
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signed the administrative reform bill passed by the Riigikogu last week into law today, however he found the law was only a partial solution.
"If local governments become stronger and more proficient and their tasks become greater, their revenue base must likewise be stronger,” said the Estonian head of state. So far, however, he found that the Riigikogu had only partially completed the job.
Ilves stated that bills addressing the updated division of local governments’ responsibilities and finances needed to be ready to go on MPs’ desktops by fall. “This must be done in a hurry,” he stressed, “Because true administrative reform is not simply a matter of mathematical summation of parishes and cities.”
According to the president, there were yet other issues involved with the reform needing addressing as well, including regional employment together with the possibility of relocating state authorities outside of the Estonian capital of Tallinn, as well as the changing role of county governments.
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik