Under the current rules, the ERR supervisory board is formed of one representative from each Riigikogu faction and four experts. The experts are appointed by the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee through an open competition.

Luhats suggested that members could be chosen by public-law institutions to ensure impartiality.

"My proposal is to change the role of experts in such a way that they would not be even indirectly politically influenced, because in the Cultural Affairs Committee — I apologize — there is always a coalition and an opposition, regardless of the balance. But if people are appointed to the public broadcasting supervisory board, for example, from the Estonia National Opera or the National Library, then there is at least hope that they are politically independent," he told the online broadcast "Otse uudistemajast."

The government is planning to change the composition of ERR's supervisory board so that the number of experts would be at least one member greater than the number of factions represented in the Riigikogu.

Budget cuts should be reversed

Luhats also said the state should restore the €2 million cut made to ERR's budget last year, calling the cut "very painful."

"It came at the expense of programming, and it should actually be restored so that a normal situation can be reestablished," he said.

Luhats explained that ERR's budget, which is around €45 million, is vastly different from the public broadcasters in Lithuania and Latvia. Their budgets are approximately €90 million and €75 million, respectively, he said.

"In a country the size of Estonia, taking into account all the different variables of the economy, an additional €10 million for Estonian Public Broadcasting is something that could be discussed," Luhats said.

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