Overview of Key Activities of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Q1 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued written opinions on 47 draft laws or other policy-making documents.

In the first quarter, our focus was on reducing bureaucracy and overregulation and preventing the establishment of unreasonable requirements. For example, we made proposals to reduce bureaucracy in relation to sustainability reporting and the implementation of sustainability due diligence requirements for companies. From domestic initiatives, we opposed, for example, the extension of the residence permit application processing deadline and the obligation to provide origin information for meat to catering companies.

We also achieved several victories in the first quarter. For example, several unreasonable requirements related to the employment of foreigners in Estonia were not included in the law. Based on the Chamber’s proposal, the draft law excluded the requirement that a foreigner may in the future work temporarily in Estonia only with a long-term visa. Another example – the requirement that all adult education institutions wishing to offer training funded by state or local government budgets must undergo a national quality assessment was not included in the law at the Chamber’s suggestion.

We also paid great attention to education issues. We submitted several proposals regarding planned changes to the Professions Act. We primarily emphasized that the result of the changes must be improved cooperation between schools and companies.

In February, the "Take Your Child to Work!" initiative also took place, which this year gathered a record number of participants, and the third cohort of the Women Leaders Accelerator began, with 300 women applying.

Key Topics of Q1 2025:

The deadline for submitting the sustainability report must be postponed before agreement is reached in the European Union

The Chamber made a proposal to the ministries to postpone the deadline for submitting the sustainability report by two years for those entrepreneurs who are required to submit an audited sustainability report for the first time in 2026 or 2027, based on the recent proposal of the European Commission. The amendment must be made in the Accounting Act as a matter of urgency – before an agreement is reached in the EU. This will give entrepreneurs the desired certainty and clarity on how to proceed with the sustainability reporting process. The Ministry of Finance also agreed with the proposal and the deadline is planned to be postponed.

The government supports the Chamber's proposal to make the fulfillment of environmental due diligence obligations voluntary for companies

The European Commission recently introduced an initiative to amend the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to reduce the burden and costs for companies. The Chamber supports the planned simplifications but proposed making the fulfillment of due diligence obligations arising from the directive voluntary for companies. The government supported this proposal and presented this idea at the EU level.

Four victories related to the employment of foreigners

On March 26, the Riigikogu adopted amendments to the Aliens Act. Based on the Chamber’s proposal, several unreasonable requirements that would have made the process of hiring foreigners slower and more expensive for Estonian companies were not included in the law. For example, the draft excluded the requirement that a foreigner may work temporarily in Estonia only with a long-term visa, i.e., a D-visa. The law also did not include the requirement that an employer must have had business activity in Estonia for at least six months before registering short-term employment. In addition, the requirement for a guarantee from temporary work agencies will be removed and the government will not be given the right to suspend the registration of short-term employment under the pretext of public order or security.

We opposed the abolition of the €1000 threshold for invoices presented in the VAT declaration annex and the obligation for e-invoices

The Ministry of Finance has started drafting a bill to amend the VAT Act, which plans to abolish the €1000 threshold for invoice data presented in the VAT declaration annex KMD INF and to establish the obligation to issue e-invoices for transactions between VAT payers. The Chamber proposed to the ministry to cancel the planned changes, as the administrative burden and costs for entrepreneurs will increase significantly, the changes excessively restrict entrepreneurial freedom, but the expected tax revenue is marginal.

Amendments to the profession system must not reduce the opportunity for companies to have a say

The Chamber supports the Ministry of Education and Research’s goal to make the profession system more flexible and to strengthen cooperation between education and the labor market. However, we are concerned that several planned changes may counteract this goal. For example, the Chamber does not support the idea that in the future, professional standards will be developed only for regulated professions and the possibility to develop standards for unregulated professions will only be available for a fee. Instead of reducing the number of professional standards, the process of creating and changing them should be simplified. For example, we proposed that the state could create an electronic environment for the development of professional standards, which would allow necessary changes to be made flexibly. We also stated that the Chamber does not support the imposition of additional fees on qualification issuers, as this would reduce interest in issuing qualifications and could hinder the application for qualifications. The ministry formed a working group to prepare the legislative changes, which includes a representative of the Chamber.

The Chamber does not support the extension of the residence permit application review deadline

The Chamber is against the Ministry of the Interior’s proposal to extend the processing time for temporary residence permit applications from two months to three months. The change would extend the process duration for both employers and foreign workers. The expectation, however, is that the process should become faster than it is today.

We informed that the investment support for large investments sets too high an investment requirement

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications drafted a large investment support bill, which allows an Estonian company to apply for up to 20 million euros of support for making at least a 100 million euro investment. According to the Chamber, the minimum investment size could be 30 million euros instead of 100 million euros. The ministry did not agree with our proposals.

Changes to the EU sustainable finance taxonomy will simplify the lives of companies

The Chamber expressed support for the European Commission’s proposal to amend the delegated acts of the sustainable finance taxonomy in order to simplify the regulatory framework aimed at sustainable investments. The changes reduce the administrative burden for companies operating in Estonia by simplifying reporting requirements and clarifying the criteria for green investments.

The planned simplifications will apply from the 2025 financial year to promote the transition to environmentally sustainable investments and reduce excessive bureaucracy.

The Chamber supports the simplification of public procurement

The Ministry of Finance launched a consultation to analyze the possibilities of simplifying public procurement requirements. The Chamber expressed support for, for example, raising procurement thresholds and giving the contracting authority more flexibility in placing additional orders. At the same time, the Chamber does not support proposals that may reduce the transparency and fair competition of public procurements. For example, we are against the amendment that would give contracting authorities full discretion to decide whether and which voluntary exclusion grounds to check. We also do not support the idea of allowing contracting authorities to check only the lowest-price offer's compliance or abolishing the Public Procurement Review Committee (VAKO).

Another example of how Estonia wants to establish stricter requirements than EU law

We approached the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture with a draft law that aims to ban from January 1, 2035, the keeping of hens in cages for egg production. According to the Chamber, banning caged egg production in Estonia is not a proportionate measure and has negative effects on Estonia’s competitiveness and food security.

The Chamber does not support the obligation for catering companies to present meat origin information

The Chamber is against the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture’s proposal to require catering establishments to provide customers with information, for example on menus or boards, about the country of origin of fresh, chilled, and frozen beef, pork, goat, lamb, and poultry meat (including minced meat) used as food ingredients. This creates excessive bureaucracy for entrepreneurs. Consumers can always ask for this information themselves, and many establishments already provide it voluntarily. Therefore, we proposed to abandon the imposition of such a requirement.

Several of the Chamber’s proposals were considered in the amendment of the Adult Education Act

On April 1, several amendments to the Adult Education Act came into force, during the preparation of which the Chamber’s proposals were taken into account. For example, the law did not include the requirement that all adult education institutions wishing to offer training funded by the state and local government budgets and structural funds must undergo national quality assessment, as proposed by the Chamber. Such an obligation would have imposed an unreasonably large burden and cost on both the public sector and training providers. At the same time, such a solution would not automatically ensure high-quality adult training. Another example: initially, the draft law stated that the adult training institution must include the procedure for publishing feedback in the quality assurance principles, but this point was not included in the law at the Chamber's proposal.

Amendments to the Air Protection Act must not impose retroactive obligations

The Ministry of Climate plans to amend the Air Protection Act and other laws to transpose two directives and align Estonian law with one EU regulation dealing with greenhouse gas emission allowances in various sectors (including shipping and aviation). Among other things, the draft plans to impose retroactive obligations on entrepreneurs. The Chamber proposed to postpone the entry into force of the draft to January 1, 2026, and to remove provisions related to the fulfillment of retroactive obligations from the draft.

The positive credit register must better ensure the protection of consumer rights

The Ministry of Finance wants to create a positive credit register. The Chamber sees some concerns in the draft. For example, to protect individuals' rights, we requested that the draft include a requirement to notify a person if an inquiry has been made to the credit register about them. The Chamber also wants the explanatory memorandum to more clearly define liability for unlawful use of data. The Chamber also proposed extending by at least one year the period during which a credit data provider must transmit data related to active consumer credit agreements to the credit register.

Significant additions are needed to proceed with the Cybersecurity Act amendments

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Digital Affairs have drafted a bill to transpose the NIS2 directive into Estonian law, which would result in approximately 2,000 companies being required to significantly enhance their cybersecurity measures compared to before. They must also notify the supervisory authority in case of a significant cyber incident. According to the Chamber, the bill needs significant improvements to clarify how many new companies will actually have to implement cybersecurity requirements and what the effects of the changes on companies will be.

We submitted several proposals to the draft support measure for investments reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The Ministry of Climate has introduced a draft support measure enabling manufacturing industry, water supply, sewerage, waste, and pollution management companies to apply for support to implement innovative solutions that reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions. The Chamber submitted several proposals to amend the draft, including a proposal to increase the support limit.

Companies need more time for gender balance reporting of management bodies

A bill amending the Securities Market Act has reached the Riigikogu, which introduces a gender balance requirement for the management bodies of listed companies. The Chamber supports the general aim of the bill to promote greater participation of women in the activities of management bodies, but we prefer voluntary measures over mandatory requirements, even though we understand that the transposition of the EU directive is inevitable. We proposed to the Riigikogu to postpone the gender balance reporting deadline by one year. In addition, we asked for the removal of the provision according to which the Financial Supervision Authority would publish on its website the list of companies not meeting the gender balance goals.

Employers and schools together introducing children to working life

On February 19, the “Take Your Child to Work!” initiative took place for the eighth time. During the day, employers opened their doors to the children of their employees so that they could get a closer look at their parents' work and work environment. Employers, schools, parents, and students from across Estonia participated in the initiative. It was primarily aimed at students from 1st to 9th grade, but older and younger children could also participate. In total, approximately 8,300 students, 350 schools and kindergartens, and 2,500 employers participated. The interest of both employers and schools in the initiative has grown year by year.

According to the Chamber, it is not clear what problem the European Commission’s initiative to improve the position of agricultural producers aims to solve

The European Commission made a proposal to introduce new measures to strengthen the position of agricultural producers in the supply chain and to enhance cross-border cooperation against unfair trading practices, by implementing an obligation that every delivery of agricultural products must be accompanied by a written contract. According to the Chamber, it is not exactly clear what problem the initiative aims to solve, it needs a detailed impact analysis, and the expected positive effects are not guaranteed. We believe that the European Union should not interfere too lightly in relationships between companies.

We submitted several proposals to amend the conditions of support promoting the reduction of waste and packaging

The Ministry of Climate has completed a draft that allows support to be applied for activities that reduce or prevent food waste, improve the recyclability of packaging through packaging design, or create or expand the possibilities for using reusable packaging. The Chamber made several proposals to amend the draft. For example, applying for support should also be allowed for large enterprises to ensure equal treatment of entrepreneurs, and local governments should be excluded from the list of eligible support recipients.

The National Defence Promotion Foundation delivered the twenty-second aid shipment to the Ukrainian National Guard together with the Chamber

On March 31, the National Defence Promotion Foundation handed over various equipment worth €217,211 to the Ukrainians at the Poland-Ukraine border. This is the second shipment in 2025 that the National Defence Promotion Foundation has handed over to cooperation partners. The focus of this shipment was technical aid tools, primarily drones and power stations for the Ukrainian National Guard units.

More and more women are aspiring to leadership roles – a record number of applicants to the Women Leaders Accelerator

On January 30, the third cohort of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Women Leaders Accelerator started. It is intended for women leaders who wish to develop their critical thinking, argumentation, public speaking, and negotiation skills. A record number of 300 women leaders applied to the accelerator.