Efficiency council recommends FSA-Bank of Estonia merger
A state body has proposed the government merge the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) with the Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon), arguing this would make savings of up to €4 million per year.
The council for efficiency and economic growth (Efektiivsuse ja majanduskasvu nõukoda) announced at a meeting Tuesday that the proposed merger would also bring more effective supervision and reduce duplication in data reporting, were it to go ahead, as well as to support reasonable lending and significantly making savings resources on court proceedings.
Association representatives say the general principle should be that Estonia must not impose stricter obligations on its companies than the EU baseline minimum, with Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulation, obligations set by the waste and packaging act, the regulation on deforestation-free products, duplicated supervision, and the over-regulated water law those areas highlighted.
Business chiefs from the national food industry association, the merchants' association, and the chamber of agriculture and commerce presented their proposals to reduce bureaucracy burdening the sector at the meeting, while the council is also due to send to the government nearly 30 proposals from the banking association, including to create a joint database to simplify reporting in the financial sector.
Additionally a proposal, which would affect all lenders and borrowers in Estonia, is to be presented to the government to continue with expedited order-for-payment proceedings while increasing control over loan issuing, and creating a positive credit register on borrowers' creditworthiness.
A total of 584 such proposals have been submitted to the council for efficiency and economic growth, of which 122 are supported and 17 already implemented, with ongoing reforms including shortening planning and immigration processes for skilled workers, easing occupational safety requirements, repealing around 15 percent of 4,009 regulations, and a follow-up meeting set for September 29 featuring discussions with EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
The council for efficiency and economic growth makes specific proposals to the prime minister for deregulation, reducing requirements and bureaucracy, and steps which it feels would contribute to economic growth.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Karin Koppel
