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18.-19. September 2008
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Estonian NGOs as the actors in the policy process
Ülle Lepp
Centre of Information services for MPs
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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
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Civic initiative and associations in Estonia
1865 - first song and drama societies were established in Estonia
1869 - first Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 1918-1940 - rapid growth in civic initiative, ca 12000
organisations were registered 1940 - Soviet occupation put an end to all citizen
initiative in less than a year 1987 - restoration of civic initiative in the form of a
national movement during the period of the so-called "Singing Revolution"
By 1 August 2008 26 568 non-profit associations and 804 foundations were registered
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Major policy documents
1995 - the Foundations Act 1996 - the Non-Profit Associations Act 2002 - Estonian Civil Society Development Concept
(EKAK) 2006 - Agenda for Supporting Civic Initiative
in 2007-2010
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Roles of NGOs
service delivery innovation maintaining the value system participation in the public policy process
Source: Casey (1998)
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Relations between public and non-profit sector
1991-1996 - Government busy with efforts to build up the state, declining civic engagement
1997-2001 - random recognition of individual NGOs by public institutions, limiting the role of NGOs to that of service providers
2002 to 2007 - institutionalisation of relations between Government and non-profit sector, recognition of both economic and political roles of NGOs.
Source: Randma-Liiv, Liiv, Lepp (2007)
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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.
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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 e-mails 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)
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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)
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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 - 2-3 most important drafts from every ministry.
Create public e-lists based on subject fields.
Source: Lepa, Illing, Kasemets, Lepp, Kallaste (2004)
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Code of Good Practice on Involvement
Code of Good Practice on Involvement was developed in 2005.
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.
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The public consultation website osale.ee
In 2007 - 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 http://epractice.eu/cases/osale
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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 email 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.
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First results
During first year of use, 33 public consultations have been carried out.
The website has 4000-5000 visits per consultation on average. The most popular consultation – new Employment Contract Law -
had 6701 visits, European Union policy of Estonia 2007-2011 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)
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Summary
Key words:
the WILLINGNESS to hold a government-citizen dialogue
the WILLINGNESS and ABILITY to participate!
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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 http://www.ngo.ee/11583
Estonian Civil Society Development Concept (2002). Available at http://www.ngo.ee/1030
