Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop says the updating of the Emergency Act represents a major step forward for the executive, local governments and VSPs in enhancing Estonia’s crisis-readiness and resilience.
“From today, there are 22 vital services in Estonia, provided by more than 400 companies,” he explained. “They are all required to guarantee the availability of their services in a crisis, which is something the 79 local governments in the country also need to think about. This will mean that Estonia has a comprehensive overview of the risks it faces, which we will be constantly updating. All of this will help us better protect the lives and health of everyone in the country in times of major crisis.”
The updates to the Emergency Act see GP services, the supply of food and medicines and air navigation, airport, port and public rail services added to the list of vital services.
The number of VSPs will primarily increase in the fields of district heating, water and road maintenance. At present, only sizeable local governments with at least 10,000 residents are considered to be VSPs, but in the future all service providers in the sector will be considered as such.
Among other things, VSPs will have to start preparing business continuity risk analyses and plans and be ready to undergo independent audits.
Going forward, the state will prepare a nationwide risk analysis based on the risk assessments drafted by authorities and local governments.
The first risk assessment must be completed by local governments by 30 June 2025, after which the assessments must be updated at least once a year.
In their assessments, local governments will need to identify threats to vital services for whose continuity they are responsible in their area. They will be tasked with assessing the risks to district heating and the water supply, to the passability of local roads and to the sewerage system.
A total of 33 out of the 79 local governments in Estonia are already addressing the continuity of vital services, drafting emergency plans and organising crisis management exercises.
In order to assist local governments, the Government Office commissioned a risk assessment methodology which has now been completed, and is developing an IT solution to simplify risk analysis.
Local governments will also be helped in the assessment of threats by the emergency services, the results of which must be made public so that residents are aware of the risks that could affect their area.
Everybody can prepare for a crisis – the government’s guidelines on how to do so can be found online at https://www.olevalmis.ee/. For the latest information in times of crisis, see kriis.ee.
Emergency Act coming into force today: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/108102024027
