The main task of the Action Plan based on the OECD report is to increase the state's ability to solve long term and cross-sector problems.
According to Heiki Loot, Secretary of State and head of the workgroup responsible for the Action Plan, its main task is to increase the Government's capacity to carry out its priorities. "It is also observed that the administrative burden of citizens and entrepreneurs should not increase, the share of public servants out of the working-age population should not increase and the public sector spending/GDP ratio should not increase," Loot added.
"As a rule, the problems that need solving require a long-term commitment and are cross-sector by nature, which is why development of strategic analysis and cooperation capabilities should be a priority", Loot said. Seven measures are described in the Action Plan as the main changes: more flexible governance, funding of cross-sector programmes and activity-based budgeting, development of policy design capabilities, use of subject-based task forces and horizontal networks, development of the regulatory environment and improvement of the quality of law-making in important sectors, adjusting the state's human resources policy to demographic trends, and development of the administrative capabilities of the workforce.
Implementation of the Action Plan is coordinated by a lead group headed by the Secretary of State and includes the Secretary Generals of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economics and Communications, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as representatives of Praxis, the Estonian Cooperation Assembly and the Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations.
As this is a document comprising the activities of governance and improvement of administrative capabilities, it will also fulfil a prerequisite for using EU funds in the administrative capacity sector, and the implementation of the Action Plan will mostly be funded from EU structural funds.
The OECD report "Towards a Single Government Approach" from 2011 is the most detailed and largest analysis of Estonia's governance that has been prepared in the last few years.
Work on the OECD report was supported by a lead group that was comprised of the Deputy Secretary Generals of various ministries and supported by a consulting group of experts, social partners and ministry officials. Approximately 140 interviews were conducted by the OECD in Estonia for the analysis and more than 20 experts from over 10 OECD member states participated in drawing up the analysis.
In the same year, an initial Action Plan was created for implementing the recommendations of the report, and it was approved by the Government in the autumn of 2011.
More about the OECD report: https://riigikantselei.ee/en/oecd-public-governance-review