The European Union Affairs Committee supports creating the European Competitiveness Fund
The European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) approved Estonia’s positions on the Proposal for a Regulation on establishing the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), which aims to enhance the EU’s competitiveness, reduce strategic dependencies, and strengthen economic resilience.
Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Peeter Tali said that Estonia supported establishing the ECF because its purpose was to increase the EU’s competitiveness, which includes the EU’s autonomy, fostering economic growth, technological development and resilience of supply chains.
“A decisive increase in the competitiveness of the European Union, and investment in innovation and security, is a matter of life and death for us Europeans. Estonia’s priority is the financing of defence, particularly the European defence industry, critical infrastructure, cross-border connections, and digital solutions,” Tali added.
Estonia considers it particularly important to use the fund to develop defence readiness, the space industry, and the resilience of critical infrastructure, as well as to strengthen digital services and infrastructure. It is also important to support the transition to clean energy and industrial decarbonisation, EU’s digital sovereignty and cybersecurity, and the development of healthcare, biotechnology, bioeconomy and agriculture.
In strengthening security, Estonia considers it important to provide additional support to Member States on the eastern border and to enable the financing of European defence projects of common interest on a larger scale. Estonia also supports the involvement of NATO allies and Ukraine in the Fund’s activities in order to strengthen European security and cooperation.
Estonia underlines that funding from the Fund must also be easily accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises, equal treatment of all Member States must be ensured, and Member States must have a clear and meaningful role in the management of the Fund.
The proposal to establish the European Competitiveness Fund is part of the EU’s next long-term budget for 2028-2034. The ECF consolidates 14 existing EU financial instruments in a single framework, with a total volume of EUR 451 billion as proposed by the European Commission.
The positions of the Government were presented by Minister of Economy and Industry Erkki Keldo. The European Union Affairs Committee decided to support the Government’s positions by consensus, considering the opinion of the Finance Committee.
Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
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