The Chamber submitted several proposals for the preparation of an economic policy action plan
We sent initial proposals to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications regarding the activities that should be included in the 2025 economic policy plan to move towards the vision stated in the economic policy plan to double the Estonian economy by 2035.
The draft of the economic policy plan developed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications includes nine principles of economic policy management that ministries should follow when shaping their work plans and policies. The ministry will compile an annual work plan for the implementation of these principles, outlining more specific activities.
The Chamber proposed including activities in the 2025 work plan to ensure that Estonia has a stable and comparable end price for electricity to that of the surrounding regions. One quick solution is for legal entities or at least energy-intensive electricity consumers not to pay the renewable energy fee, or to set a price cap on the renewable energy fee. The state budget should compensate the lost income for renewable energy producers. Additionally, other activities that positively impact long-term electricity price stability and reasonable price levels should continue.
In the letter sent to the ministry, the Chamber also emphasized that the process of handling various planning and permit applications must be significantly accelerated for entrepreneurs.
Currently, a problem in several sectors is that local governments oppose the establishment of certain production units within their territory. To solve this problem, local governments need to be financially motivated not to oppose job creation. Therefore, we proposed changing the principle of distributing personal income tax so that half of the income tax received by the local government would go to the local government of the individual's residence, and the other half to the local government of the workplace.
The Chamber also made several proposals to make labor law regulations more flexible. These proposals are related to weekly rest time, flexible working time agreements, and fixed-term employment contracts. Additionally, we asked to find solutions to several issues in foreign labor regulations. For example, the problem of the too-small immigration quota needs to be solved quickly. This can be addressed by increasing the immigration quota or exempting certain professions from the quota.
Today, a major challenge for companies is the very low predictability of both the legal environment and other factors. This creates uncertainty among companies and reduces their willingness to invest. Therefore, efforts must be made in the coming years to increase predictability and thereby the confidence of companies. The draft law on a climate-resilient economy currently
being prepared can help increase predictability. Predictability can also be enhanced by establishing a long-term agreement on the use of natural resources, including minerals and wood, focusing on the domestic valorization of these resources. For entrepreneurs, tax environment predictability and stability are extremely important.
Considering the current security and economic policy situation, the conditions for the large investment support measure should also be made significantly more generous for investors. For instance, the current maximum support amount, which is currently three million euros, needs to be increased several times over.