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Estonia and the Enlargement of the European Union

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Estonia and the Enlargement of the European Union SECRETARIAT WORKING PARTY TASK-FORCE "ENLARGEMENT" THE COORDINATOR JF/bo Luxembourg, 2 March 2000 Briefing No 8 ESTONIA AND THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (Third update) * The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those held by the European Parliament as an institution. INTRANET: http//www.europarl.ep.ec/enlargement INTERNET: http//www.europarl.eu.int/enlargement EPADES: Epades\public\elargiss PE 167.409/rév.3 Or. EN EN EN The briefings drafted by the European Parliament Secretariat's Task Force on Enlargement aim to present in a systematic, summary form, the state of discussions on the various aspects of enlargement of the Union and the positions adopted by the Member States, the applicant countries, and European institutions. Briefings will be updated as the negotiations progress. The following briefings have already been published: Number Title PE No Date Languages 1 Cyprus and membership of the European Union 167.284/rev.4 18.03.99 All 2 Hungary and the enlargement of the European Union 167.296/rev.2 01.02.99 All 3 Romania and its accession to the European Union 167.297/rev.2 26.02.99 All 4 The Czech Republic and the enlargement of the European Union 167.335/rev.3 18.10.99 All 5 Malta and the relations with the European Union 167.350/rev.3 01.07.99 All 6 Bulgaria and the enlargement of the European Union 167.392/rev.3 11.10.99 All 7 Turkey and relations with the European Union 167.407/rev.2 17.06.99 All 8 Estonia and the enlargement of the European Union 167.409/rev.1 08.10.98 All 9 Slovenia and accession to the European Union 167.531/rev.1 08.02.99 All 10 Latvia and enlargement of the European Union 167.532/rev.2 27.09.99 All 11 Lithuania and enlargement of the European Union 167.533/rev.2 12.01.99 All 12 Poland and accession to the European Union 167.587/rev.2 03.03.99 All 13 Slovakia and accession to the European Union 167.609/rev.2 20.08.99 All 14 Russia and enlargement of the European Union 167.734/rev.1 23.02.99 All 15 The institutional aspects of enlargement of the European Union 167.299/rev.1 21.06.99 DE-EN-ES -FR-IT 16 Controlling and protecting European Union finances with a view to enlargement 167.330 09.03.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 17 Environmental policy and enlargement 167.402 23.03.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 18 The European Conference and the enlargement of the European Union 167.410 03.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 19 Budgetary aspects of enlargement 167.581 12.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 20 Democracy and respect for human rights in the enlargement process of the EU 167.582 01.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 21 Enlargement and Economic and Social Cohesion 167.584 08.05.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 22 Statistical Annex on Enlargement 167.614/rev.5 06.07.99 EN 23 Legal Questions of Enlargement 167.617 19.05.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 24 Pre-accession strategy for enlargement of the European Union 167.631 17.06.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 25 Cooperation in the area of justice and home affairs in the enlargement process 167.690/rev.1 30.03.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 26 Women's rights and enlargement of the EU 167.735 14.07.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 27 Enlargement and Agriculture 167.741 03.09.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 28 Switzerland and Enlargement 167.777/rev.1 08.03.99 All 29 Enlargement and Fisheries 167.799 12.10.98 All 30 Common foreign and security policy and enlargement of the European Union 167.822/rev.1 26.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 2 PE 167.409/rév.3 Number Title PE No Date Languages 31 Security and defence and enlargement of the European Union 167.877 30.10.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 32 The European Economic Area (EEA) and the enlargement of the EU 167.887 17.11.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 33 The PHARE Programme and the enlargement of the EU 167.944 04.12.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 34 The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the enlargement of the EU 167.962 04.12.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 35 The industrial policy and the enlargement of the EU 167.963/rev.1 24.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 36 Agenda 2000 and the accession process to the EU 168.008/rev.1 10.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 37 Enlargement and external economic relations 168.062/rev.1 08.09.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 38 The role of the European Parliament in the enlargement process 168.065 27.01.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 39 The social aspects of enlargement of the EU 168.115/rev.1 01.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 40 Nuclear safety in the applicant countries of Central an Eastern Europe 168.257 22.03.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 41 Public opinion on enlargement in the EU Member States and applicant countries 168.296 22.04.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 42 The Russian minority in the Baltic States and the enlargement of the EU 168.307 03.05.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 43 Energy policy and the enlargement of the EU 168.394 10.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 44 The transport policy and the enlargement of the EU 168.459 28.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT To obtain copies of the above briefings, please contact: Mrs E. Deguffroy, Luxembourg, SCH Room 602, Tel. (352) 4300-22906 / fax: (352) 4300-29027 Task Force on Enlargement, Brussels, LEO 06D119, Tel. (32 2) 284 2381 / fax: (32 2) 284 4984 Task Force on Enlargement, Strasbourg, IP2 447, Tel. (33 3) 8817-4408 / fax: (33 3) 8817-9059 INTRANET: http://www.europarl.ep.ec/enlargement INTERNET: http://www.europarl.eu.int/enlargement EPADES: epades\public\elargiss 3 PE 167.409/rév.3 BRIEFING ON ESTONIA AND THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CONTENTS Page I. SUMMARY 7 II. POLITICAL SITUATION 7 a) Recent history 7 b) Institutions 8 c) Recent developments 8 III. ECONOMIC SITUATION 10 a) Summary 10 b) Current situation 10 c) WTO Membership 12 d) Direction of trade 12 IV. RELATION WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION 12 a) European Commission 12 b) European Parliament 13 c) Council of Ministers 14 ANNEX 4 PE 167.409/rév.3 I. SUMMARY Estonia continues to make steady progress as it continues its accession negotiations with the EU. By the end of the Portuguese Presidency, negotiations on all 31 chapters will have been started. Domestically, local elections broadly confirmed the trends of the general election. The Centre Party won the largest number of seats, but had difficulty finding allies. In the Riigikogu, the opposition blocked parliamentary business over the proposed restitution of property bill. The block was only lifted after an agreement to defer progress on the bill. Amendments to the language law are likely to be considered later this year. II. POLITICAL SITUATION a) Recent history Estonia has a history of invasion, most neighbouring countries having ruled it at various times. In the late 13th century it formed part of the lands of the Germanic Knights of the Teutonic Order. The invasion by Russian Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) in 1558 destabilised the area, leading to the annexation of Estonia by Sweden. It was not until Tsar Peter I (the Great) was victorious over Sweden in 1721 that Estonia became part of the Russian empire under the Treaty of Nystad. Increased urbanisation in the 19th century squeezed the remaining German aristocracy out of the capital, Tallinn, and gave Estonia a sense of national identity. After three years of effective autonomy following the Russian revolution in 1917, Estonia became fully independent under the Treaty of Tartu signed with post-revolutionary Russia in 1920. A brief period of liberal democracy followed, which ended in 1934 when the prime minister, Konstantin Pats, switched to an authoritarian regime in a bloodless coup. Estonia was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, effectively with Germany's sanction under the terms of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pace of August 1939. A rigged election followed, and the parliament that resulted declared Estonia one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union on 6th August. From July 1941, Estonia was occupied by German forces as they advanced on Moscow, but the Soviet Union regained control of the republic in August 1944 when the Red Army repelled the Nazi advance. Society, industry and infrastructure were rapidly industrialised, with both industry and agriculture integrated into the Soviet economic plan. Political dissent was stifled and absolute control of all structures of government and administration rested with the Communist Party of Estonia (CPE). A more tolerant political atmosphere developed in the late 1980 as the then Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev, followed policies of perestroika and glasnost in order to reinvigorate the centrally planned economy. Pro-independence groups came to the fore in Estonia, in particular the Popular Front of Estonia (PFE) and the radical Estonian National Independence Party. Even the CPE moved with the tide. The Estonian Supreme Soviet declared the country's sovereignty on 16 November 1988, and in February 1990 called on the Soviet authorities to enter into negotiations with the aim of securing Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union.
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