Head of the coalition Eesti 200 party Kristina Kallas said that when she mentioned the Environmental Board on Vikerraadio, she was using it as an example of an agency with 600 employees, where a significant portion of the work involves supervision, oversight and reporting.

"We actually have many such agencies. A real reduction has to start with cutting back regulations, not laying off officials. If we dismiss civil servants, they will be back at work in five years," Kallas told ERR.

"There is also another issue: these regulations have a significant impact on the economy — sometimes positively, but often negatively. The first step must be reviewing the regulations, and only then should we discuss whether to shut down an agency or lay off officials," Kallas said.

She stressed the need to clearly define the purpose of regulations.

"We must establish regulations based on environmental protection goals. However, what has happened now is that in refining regulations, we have gone overboard," Kallas said.

According to Kallas, the issue of tackling excessive regulations will be addressed in more detail over the weekend or early next week, once the new coalition agreement is in place.

Maran: Economy must consider the boundaries of living nature

Commenting on Kallas' example regarding the Environmental Board, MP Tiit Maran (Social Democratic Party) said that the agency has already undergone continuous downsizing.

"The recent cuts to the Environmental Board are not the first. The board has been repeatedly trimmed over time, especially in areas concerning living environments, wildlife and its management. That doesn't mean everything the Environmental Board does is perfect and adequate, but they are operating with increasingly limited funding," said Maran.

"In some cases, regulations could certainly be simplified, and even the agency itself struggles with certain regulations that have been imposed from above. The board doesn't create regulations; they come from higher up, either from national laws or the European Union, and the Environmental Board is essentially just the enforcer," Maran explained.

He noted that there is no new coalition agreement yet and Kristina Kallas' remarks were general in nature. However, he has the impression that the new government sees environmental conservation and its related restrictions on economic activity as a major obstacle.

"Economic activity needs to function, that is important, but at the same time, we must consider the limits of our living environment. This is a fundamental conflict, and I find it very concerning because we must preserve our living environment," Maran said.

He pointed out that Estonia currently has a very good living environment. "A recent international report found that Estonia has the cleanest air in the world. This is largely thanks to regulations," the MP said.

"Unfortunately, the nature of legislation is such that when someone abuses a certain sector, the resulting regulation also affects those who have been acting responsibly and correctly. As unfortunate as that is," Maran stated. "The world is becoming increasingly complex and regulations are becoming more complicated as well. Simplifying them is very difficult," he added.

According to Maran, the new government's perspective tends to be overly simplistic.

"You can simplify everything by just arbitrarily scrapping some regulations, particularly those that business owners dislike, without even examining whether they have any environmental impact. Of course, that kind of approach is completely unacceptable, but I hope this is just a mistaken early impression rather than reality. Time will tell," Maran said.

He noted that even the previous coalition consistently sought to simplify regulations where some may have been excessive. During the last government's tenure, laws such as the Forest Act, the Climate Resilient Economy Act and the Nature Conservation Act had already moved in a promising direction.

ELF: Administrative burden could be curbed through clear restrictions

According to Tarmo Tüür, head of the Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF), environmental regulations could indeed be reduced, but not by simply eliminating rules. Instead, clearer limits should be set on the use of natural resources.

"In the case of forests, for years, we have been moving toward extracting as much as possible while constantly trying to find ways to allow more logging and economic use. Various exceptions and rules have been devised to permit logging in protected areas and Natura 2000 sites. We know that even during the breeding season [of birds], logging is still allowed in private forests today. All these exceptions contribute to a heavy administrative burden and bureaucracy," Tüür said.

He pointed to the issue of breeding season logging, where exceptions are frequently sought to continue cutting down trees.

"Is it really reasonable that, for so many logging operations, officials have to go on-site and determine whether large nests are visible or eggs are literally falling on their heads before concluding that logging is justified? We should establish clearer boundaries, ensuring that even private forests have at least a minimal logging-free period. Or, for example, logging in protected areas could be stopped entirely. That would indeed be a way to reduce administrative burdens," Tüür suggested.

He also noted that these exceptions often lead to numerous court cases, which place an additional strain on the state.

"There are certainly some regulations that could be removed. For example, in Lahemaa National Park, if you want to build a smokehouse, you need to obtain approval. The number of working hours spent on that is another matter," Tüür said.

In his view, there are other areas in society where bureaucracy could be reduced, and the environment should not necessarily be the first target.

"As the president has also pointed out — do we really need to label a bar of soap as 'soap'? We can rely on people's ability to recognize and understand basic things. There are certainly areas where individuals can take on more responsibility, but nature, unfortunately, cannot protect itself. Especially in a situation like ours, where the use of natural resources is intensive," Tüür concluded.

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