Estonia's European Union Policy

80.    The EU needs to agree on and swiftly implement updated EU rules on which Member State pays benefits to people who have exercised their right to free movement or to which Member State employers have to pay social security contributions for the employee (e.g. social tax and unemployment insurance contributions). 

81.    The European Commission needs to develop quality, user-friendly, and interoperable pan-European data exchange systems for the competent authorities of the Member States to exchange information on the payment of social security benefits, which will help reduce fraud and abuse. 

82.    For Estonia, it is important that in the EU-level discussions on the minimum income threshold, each Member State retains the right to decide on its minimum income threshold, as national social protection systems differ across countries.

83.    To ensure equal access to medicines for patients in all EU Member States, effective sanctions must be imposed on marketing authorisation holders who do not put medicines on a small market. To facilitate putting medicines on the market, the electronic package leaflet needs to be introduced across the EU as soon as possible. Centralised EU technical solutions should be favoured, while also ensuring that patients have the option to receive the medicine’s information in paper form in the official language of the Member State when the medicine is dispensed. Generic medicines need to reach both the EU and Estonian markets more quickly than before. 

84.    When supporting the production of critical medicines and their active substances with EU funds, we consider it important that patients in all Member States have access to the medicines. The EU must develop a joint procurement mechanism for critical medicines that ensures timely access to the necessary quantity and form of medicines for patients. 

85.    It must be possible to initiate strategic projects for the production of critical medicines also in small Member States and with the participation of SMEs. To increase the security of supply of critical medicines, the best possible conditions for the implementation of strategic projects in Estonia must be ensured. One possible measure is to reduce the share of co-financing required from cohesion countries with support from the EU budget.

86.    We expect the European Commission to ensure the implementation of the European Health Data Space and focus on creating common EU solutions for cross-border infrastructure, including secure data processing environments. By 2029 at the latest, patients must be able to purchase medicines based on their digital prescription in all EU member states. 

87.    Estonia aims to reduce the harm caused by non-communicable diseases within the European Union. It is important to establish uniform requirements for the advertising, packaging and composition of tobacco and nicotine products. We want an EU-wide ban on the distance sales of tobacco and nicotine products, as well as on the use of flavourings and aromas in these products.