Minister: Baltic states can show unity on EU bureaucratic red tape
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could go out on a limb more for themselves within the European Union and more specifically concerning burdensome initatives, legislation and regulations, Minister of Justice Kalle Laanet (Reform) says.
Laanet said: "For example, for countries the size of Estonia, the volume of EU legislation can be very burdensome."
"Often, the substance of EU initiatives address things which are in no way issues in our country," Laanet added.
"It is important for their bearers to grasp that, compared with larger EU states, our country and its administration is significantly slimmer," he went on, according to a Justice Ministry press release.
The quality of other domestic legislation also suffers as a result, Laanet added.
The minister made his remarks after a meeting with his Latvian counterpart, Inese Lībiņa-Egnere (pictured), in Latvia on Thursday.
The pair discussed the harmonization of the positions of both countries in relation to EU initiatives.
The growth in EU initiatives and the accompanying legislation has been "unreasonable," in recent years, Minister Laanet added.
The intention is to involve the justice minister of Lithuania, also, in the near future, Laanet said.
While in Latvia, Laanet also visited the Olaine prison, the first modern prison in the country and designed and built with the experience of Estonia's new prison facilities in mind.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
