eesti keeles

Press Releases
Open in print mode

The President of the Republic met with the leaders of local authorities
22.12.2004


President Arnold Rüütel today at Kadriorg met with the leaders of local authorities. Participating at the meeting were President of the Estonian Association of Rural Municipalities, Kurmet Müürsepp, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Estonian Cities, Jaanus Tamkivi, President of the Union of Estonian Associations of Local Authorities, Toomas Välimäe and leaders of county level associations of local authorities.

Talking about joys and problems of local authorities, the participants of the meeting pointed out among problems uncertainty about revenue basis and the process of municipalisation of land, which has hindered the development of local entrepreneurship. A certain worry was expressed also in relation with the status of local authorities and the confusion with appointments of county governors, which has affected the normal functioning of the entire county level. The meeting addressed also issues of health care organisation, planned educational reform and the current situation of vocational education.

The leaders of local authorities highlighted among positive things success of several local development projects and vitalisation of economy, which nevertheless is hampered by the problems with labour force. It was noted that the four-year term in office, which would be implemented following the next local government elections in October 2005, would certainly facilitate the long-term development of local governments. According to the participants of the meeting, the accession to the European Union has already offered more opportunities but also has added new responsibilities, such as problems with waste management and environmental protection issues.

The President of the Republic noted that he was very satisfied that local governments had managed to cope well with the administration and use of the EU regional support instruments. The Head of State referred to the crisis of labour force as one of the most serious problems in future. Talking about the current problems, President Rüütel singled out too high dropout of pupils from basic schools and opined that one of the possibilities to lessen dropout rate would be distribution of free school meals to all age groups all over Estonia and also access to extra curriculum activities.


Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, December 23, 2004


© 2006 Office of the President l tel: + 372 631 6202 l fax: + 372 631 6250 l sekretarvpk.ee