Retailers are concerned about the consequences of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive adopted last year, which requires that by 2027, half of store parking spaces must be outfitted with preinstalled electrical cables — without knowing whether these cables will ever actually be used for an electric vehicle (EV) charging station or not.

The directive itself was adopted several years ago already, however the current situation seems to have taken many by surprise.

Speaking on ETV's "Aktuaalne kaamera," Auditor General Janar Holm explained that such seemingly unexpected situations can arise for several reasons.

"Last year, we audited this issue and looked at how things like this can happen," Holm recalled, with the reasons broadly falling into three categories.

"One aspect is that there are a significant number of directives and initiatives, but very few officials — so it's a matter of prioritization skills," he said. "The second is that there is also relatively little time to discuss these directives. And the third is the involvement process. Although MP Peeter Tali (Eesti 200) pointed out that businesses were involved, in this particular case, we found that the Estonian Retailers' Association (EKL) was not among the many included. But the ministry should have also realized that this is an important issue for retailers as well."

According to the auditor general, no one can be accused of doing anything secretly, as the relevant documents are public. He did acknowledge, however, that these documents are very extensive, and that officials could help ensure that directives are better communicated to businesses.

"What actually needs to be done is that when officials receive these initiatives, they must clearly highlight the major impacts," he noted.

"To use this specific example, I read the explanatory memorandum today, and it did not include any assessment of what this specific measure would end up costing Estonian businesses," he explained. The impact on the state budget had been evaluated, but not [the impact] on businesses, the people of Estonia, etc. So officials actually have a lot of work to do to ensure that businesses can respond accordingly."

Holm acknowledged that similar seemingly unexpected situations are likely to arise again.

"There are many such directives or European legal acts that were adopted a few years ago, [whose deadlines] seemed far off at the time," he said. "And now, suddenly, when the process of transposing them into national law begins, they are 'rediscovered.' And there are certainly aspects that haven't been paid attention to this extent."

As the prime minister also pointed out, in many cases, circumstances have changed, Holm continued.

"So even those who at one point supported adopting the directive in its current form now acknowledge that conditions have changed, and that in fact, a completely different approach should be taken instead," he explained. "So I think we need wisdom in this situation and, moving forward, should transpose directives in exactly the same form — if they cannot be changed — to the minimum extent necessary to avoid harming the business environment."

According to the auditor general, the European Union cannot be blamed for this situation either, as Estonia itself has participated in the discussions.

"I believe this is a matter of trust," he said. "Once again, we tend to say that 'Europe did this.' We did it ourselves. We were at the table, we discussed it, we knew about it, but at the right time, we failed to say what was actually important and failed to decide what was important."

Holm emphasized that improving the situation requires better prioritization skills and more thorough impact assessments.

"Since there are so few of us, we must be able to manage this workload," he said. "Even larger countries can't manage it. We need to take impact assessments seriously, and understand that when analyzing impacts, we should not only consider the cost to the state budget, but also to businesses and residents, as well as the broader impact on society."

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