The proposals range from bureaucracy in accounting laws to occupational safety and immigration quotas, the chamber said.

The chamber, which represents the interests of businesses, believes that the proposals should already be taken into account when drafting upcoming legislative amendments. Many of the recommendations would not only reduce the time and costs borne by businesses but also improve the competitiveness of Estonia's economic environment.

"The chamber's proposals are as concrete as possible to bring real reductions in administrative burden for businesses, while also being reasonably implementable," said Oliver Väärtnõu, vice chairman of the Chamber's board and a member of the Prime Minister's Council for Efficiency and Economic Growth.

One of the chamber's most significant proposals is that the preparation, submission and auditing of sustainability reports should be voluntary. If the obligation to prepare sustainability reports is not made voluntary, then its enforcement should be postponed by two years. The chamber also suggests requiring such reports only once every five years, rather than annually.

The chamber also proposed that expenses aimed at maintaining and boosting employee motivation should be exempt from fringe benefit taxation, up to €1,000 per employee per year. Under this proposal, employers would track these expenses internally by employee, but would not be required to report them monthly to the Tax and Customs Board.

Additionally, due to a shortage of occupational health doctors, businesses should be allowed — under certain conditions — to refer employees to their general practitioner for health checks.

Businesses are also calling for solutions to significantly speed up the processing of planning and permit applications. The proposal list states that clear and reasonable deadlines should be established for these procedures, and those deadlines must not be exceeded.

In March, the government convened the Council for Efficiency and Economic Growth — comprising business leaders — for an 18-month term. Its purpose is to advise the government on reducing regulations.

For example, by early April, the Estonian Employers' Confederation had collected more than 140 proposals from businesses for reducing bureaucracy and regulations. The council will select the proposals with the greatest impact for simplification, and according to State Secretary Keit Kasemets, these will gradually be implemented.

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