At the meeting of President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Eiki Nestor with President of the European Economic and Social Committee Georges Dassis, the discussion focused on involving civil society in making important decisions and on innovation at the labour market.

“The economy of Europe can grow only if in the future we do new, smarter and more complicated work,” Nestor said. As an example, he mentioned sharing economy. Yesterday the Riigikogu passed the Act that regulates sharing economy in the public transport sector. The Riigikogu has also made amendments to the Traffic Act relating to the use of delivery robots.

“The future of Europe cannot be competing with markets where the workers are paid less,” Nestor said. “The future of Europe is doing smarter work.”

Nestor told his guest about the social-economic situation of Estonia, and spoke about the principles of work of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Nestor said that Estonia had used the Nordic Countries as examples, and had tried to act through agreements. An example of that is the agreement concluded this week between the employers and the employees on the principles of teleworking.

According to Nestor, the involvement of the labour market partners in deciding the relevant issues of the Estonian society is larger than in several other European countries. He also spoke of involvement at the parliamentary level, and said that the initiative of the trade unions and employers had reached the Unemployment Insurance Act.

Dassis emphasised at the meeting that the task of today’s working age generation was to do everything in order to keep Europe together and united, also from the social-economic aspect.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) was established by the Treaty of Rome. It is an advisory assembly which represents employers, trade unions, farmers, consumers and other interest groups that together form an organised civil society. The Committee represents their views and protects their interests in political discussions, being a bridge between the European Union and its citizens.

Photos of the meeting.

Riigikogu Press Service
Epp-Mare Kukemelk
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