September 2008 Estonian NGOs as the actors in the policy process Ülle Lepp Centre of Information services for MPs

Roadmap  development of civil society in Estonia: major milestones and policy documents  institutionalisation of relations between Government and nonprofit sector  principles for engaging non-governmental organizations in Estonia  overview of participation of NGOs in the policy process  public consultations Website

Civic initiative and associations in Estonia  first song and drama societies were established in Estonia  first Estonian Song and Dance Celebration  rapid growth in civic initiative, ca organisations were registered  Soviet occupation put an end to all citizen initiative in less than a year  restoration of civic initiative in the form of a national movement during the period of the so-called "Singing Revolution"  By 1 August non-profit associations and 804 foundations were registered

Major policy documents  the Foundations Act  the Non-Profit Associations Act  Estonian Civil Society Development Concept (EKAK)  Agenda for Supporting Civic Initiative in

Roles of NGOs  service delivery  innovation  maintaining the value system  participation in the public policy process Source: Casey (1998)

Relations between public and non-profit sector  Government busy with efforts to build up the state, declining civic engagement  random recognition of individual NGOs by public institutions, limiting the role of NGOs to that of service providers  2002 to institutionalisation of relations between Government and non-profit sector, recognition of both economic and political roles of NGOs. Source: Randma-Liiv, Liiv, Lepp (2007)

Main principles of EKAK  CIVIC ACTIVITY - voluntary participation of individuals in the societal life, based on their own initiative that is supported by public institutions, which establish a favourable legal environment, provide information to the population on their activities and engage citizens and their associations into the planning and implementation of decisions.  PARTICIPATION - Citizens' associations act as channels for representing various understandings and interests existing in the society, allowing the citizens receive information and deliver their opinions regarding scheduled decisions.

Participation of NGOs in the policy process The aim of the survey conducted by the Center for Policy Studies PRAXIS in 2004 was to map today’s procedures for engaging non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Estonia. In May-June 2004 questionnaires were sent to:  government officials (39)  parliament members (20)  national representative organisations of NGOs (136) Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Who get engaged in the regulatory process? 1.Experts 2.Professional associations 3.National business associations 4.National representative organizations of NGOs 5.Individual nonprofit associations, foundations 6.Trade unions Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Why are NGOs engaged 1/2? Members of Parliament:  to find the best solution for societal problems, having joint discussions with the stakeholders (75%)  to collect information regarding various risks and impacts that can occur upon the implementation of legislation (65%)  engagement is the practice that has developed within the committee, part of work process (55%) Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Why are NGOs engaged 2/2? Government officials:  to find the best solution for the societal problems and thus increase the responsibility of stakeholders (72%)  to increase the quality of legislation (54%) Stakeholders/NGOs  their own activity (63%)  subdue their opposition while passing legislation (53%)  obtain alternative opinions (46%) Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

How are NGOs engaged? Most often NGOs are engaged in the regulatory process by sending them documents for comments (draft legislation together with explanatory memorandum, development plans). Most frequently used information and participation channels:  information via s from ministries (66%)  letters from ministries sent by snail mail (63%)  information via meetings with officials, discussions, seminars and roundtables (62%) Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Recommendations for executive branch 1/2  It is recommended to phrase general principles for engaging NGOs, differentiating interest representation from professional expertise.  Engaging NGOs should be centrally coordinated.  Tools and methods for engaging NGOs should be combined according to the subject and type of participating NGOs.  Make better use of and develop existing e-channels for engaging NGOs. Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Recommendations for executive branch 2/2 E-tools:  Make ministries’ websites more effective and easier to use, create greater transparency and better opportunities for participation. Make consultation results public.  Create a common information website for public consultation and participation procedures.  Make better use of online consultations most important drafts from every ministry.  Create public e-lists based on subject fields. Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)

Code of Good Practice on Involvement  Code of Good Practice on Involvement was developed in  The objective of Code of Good Practice on Involvement is to harmonize the principles, from which the public sector institutions and non-profit organizations can proceed in involving the public and interest groups in decision-making.  Code is in the form of recommendations and aims to be applied by government in the preparation of policy documents that are important to the country’s development.

The public consultation website osale.ee  In Website was created by the Estonian State Chancellery as a common platform for all government agencies.  The aim - to achieve more transparency and openness in decision making, better quality for public decisions, i.e. policy and legislation.  The idea - all government agencies publish their draft policy papers, development plans, laws or provisions on the consultation website.  Submission - voluntary and not regulated by administrative procedures.  Detailed description of portal is available at

HOW does the portal work? 1.Citizens and interest groups can launch initiatives for new legislation or amendments and submit petitions. 2.Citizens and NGOs can participate in public consultations and publicly give their opinion about draft legislation prepared by government agencies:  Registered users can comment on the drafts and see other peoples´ feedback.  Interested parties can subscribe to alerts about new consultations. 3.Use a search function for legal acts according to their stage of preparation, e.g since policy proposal to adoption in the parliament.

First results  During first year of use, 33 public consultations have been carried out.  The website has visits per consultation on average.  The most popular consultation – new Employment Contract Law - had 6701 visits,  European Union policy of Estonia had 3742 visits.  Over 300 registered users. For 2008 the target is:  all ministries would use the public consultations website, to open consultations for important draft legislation.  ambition is that at least 100 organizations would use the site regularly. Source: Hinsberg (2008)

Summary Key words:  the WILLINGNESS to hold a government- citizen dialogue  the WILLINGNESS and ABILITY to participate!

Sources Casey, John (1998). “Non-Government Organizations as Policy Actors: The Case of Immigration Policies in Spain”. Doctoral Thesis, Department of Political Sciente and Public Law, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Hinsberg, Hille (2008). E-participation channels in Estonia. Lepa, Reesi, Eveli Illing, Aare Kasemets, Ülle Lepp ja Epp Kallaste (2004). Kaasamine otsustetegemise protsessi. Tallinn: Poliitikauuringute Keskus PRAXIS. Randma-Liiv, Tiina, Daimar Liiv, Ülle Lepp (2008). “Institutionalising Relationships between Government and the Third Sector: the Case of the Estonian ‘Compact’” in Stephen P. Osborne (ed) The third sector in Europe : prospects and challenges. London and New York: Routledge. Code of Good Practice on Involvement (2005). Available at Estonian Civil Society Development Concept (2002). Available at

September 2008 Thank you for your attention!