Questions and Answers on Estonia's first disbursement under NextGenerationEU

How did the Commission assess Estonia's first payment request?

On 30 June 2023, Estonia submitted to the Commission a payment request based on the achievement of the 28 milestones and 1 target selected in the Council Implementing Decision for the first payment request, which included both the first and second instalment. These instalments cover reforms related to energy, green and digital transition, labour market, health and long-term care, green skills, innovation and transport, as well as Estonia's audit and control system for the implementation of the RRF.

With their request, the Estonian authorities provided detailed and comprehensive evidence demonstrating the fulfilment of the 28 milestones and 1 target. The Commission has thoroughly assessed this information before presenting its positive preliminary assessment of the payment request.

What are the next steps?

The Commission has now sent its positive preliminary assessment of Estonia's fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), asking for its opinion. Following the EFC's opinion, the Commission will adopt the final decision on the disbursement of the financial contribution, in accordance with the examination procedure, through a comitology committee. Following the adoption of the decision by the Commission, the disbursement to Estonia can take place.

The Commission will assess further payment requests by Estonia based on the fulfilment of the milestones and targets outlined in the Council Implementing Decision, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms.

How do the milestones and targets achieved by Estonia so far effectively support the green transition?

The green transition is supported by specific investments included in this payment request. These investments include for example financing for green skills development to support the green transition of businesses, and the establishment of the ‘Green Fund', a financial instrument which will invest at least €90 million in venture capital funds or enterprises for the development of new green technologies. These will cover strategic areas such as energy, agriculture, food industry, transport and logistics, materials and chemical industries.

In addition, the first payment request includes investments to boost the green transition in the energy sector, finance a programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase the country's renewable energy production capacity, finance the construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line, as well as support the renovation of apartment buildings and small residential buildings. It also includes a reform to support the deployment of safe, green and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure.

How do the milestones and targets achieved by Estonia so far effectively contribute to the digital transition?

Under the first payment request, Estonia has put forward a variety of measures that contribute to the digital transition. For instance, it carried out reforms such as the creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data, and a skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses. Estonia also put forward an investment to support the digital transformation of companies, the improvement of public entities' digital infrastructure and the safe transition to cloud infrastructure of public entities' data. The investments under Estonia's first payment request also allowed to enhance the functionalities of ‘Bürokratt', a virtual assistant platform and ecosystem to assist users of online public services.

How do the milestones and targets achieved by Estonia so far contribute to improving Estonia's economic and social situation, and its resilience?

Several reforms were implemented in the field of improving youth employment, the provision of long-term care and strengthening primary healthcare. In terms of youth employment, a reform was adopted aimed at supporting young people to gain work experience and to improve their skills to better participate in the labour market through a combination of wage and training support. The measures related to healthcare contribute to incentivising the health workforce to work outside metropolitan areas, especially in remote areas, by increasing the allocation of resources to primary medical practices, and to improve the access to specialised care by extending the use of e-consultations. This will improve overall access to healthcare across Estonia.

The reform on long-term care defines – among others - the concept of long-term care which did not previously exist in Estonian legislation. The reform defines the notion of long-term care and also covers the services to be provided to people with long-term care needs, and it specifies that the services provided to people should enable them to cope with everyday life in an independent way.

Estonia has also taken steps to support the development of regional and country-specific export strategies for businesses, in order to strengthen their global competitiveness.

Does the achievements contribute to an effective implementation of the plan?

The implementation of the Estonian RRP is on the right path thanks to the satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and one target under the first payment request. The first and second instalments under the first payment request include important measures that contribute to both the green and digital transitions, as described above. It also contains investments in the field of digital transformation of enterprises, strengthening the electricity grid and providing the labour market with measures to reduce youth unemployment. Estonia has also validated its monitoring system for the implementation of the RRF.

For More Information

Original plan

Press release: "European Commission endorses Estonia's plan"

Press release: the European Commission disburses €126 million in pre-financing to Estonia

Questions and answers: European Commission endorses Estonia's plan

Factsheet: Estonia's recovery and resilience plan

Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia and Annex

Commission Staff Working Document: Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia

National recovery and resilience website

Operational Arrangements between the Commission and Estonia

Modified plan

Commissions preliminary assessment of Estonias first payment request