ERR falls under the Ministry of Culture's area of authority.

This proposal, from the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDE), would have involved expanding the number of non-political expert members on the board, from its current three.

However, the only viable way to ensure gender balance, Purga said, is in relation to MPs, with sufficient flexibility in place for situations where, for "objective reasons", it were not possible to ensure equal representation of both genders.

The Minister of Culture added that, in shaping the composition of the ERR supervisory board, an expertise-based approach must be maintained for recognized specialists in the field, regardless of their gender.

"Extending a mandatory gender composition requirement to expert members may shift the emphasis from competence to a person's gender and create situations whereby a candidate with suitable qualifications cannot be appointed, solely due to the composition requirement," Purga said.

This approach could also, in practice, influence the evaluation of candidates in a way which does not sufficiently support the primacy of professional competence, despite this being decisive for the proper functioning of the ERR supervisory board.

"In order to increase gender balance in decision-making bodies, it would be reasonable to focus on raising the awareness and sense of responsibility of decision-makers, as well as substantively improving appointment practices," Purga added.

Her ministry has submitted to the government a draft amendment to the 2007 ERR Act, which set up ERR from the formerly separate radio and television broadcasters and which, among other things, sets out how the public broadcaster is to be governed.

"According to this bill, recognized experts in the field of public broadcasting would be selected via an open competition, based on transparent, objective, and non-discriminatory criteria. The objective set out in the draft of the Social Democratic Party faction can be achieved within the framework of this legislative amendment by ensuring balanced representation through a transparent and non-discriminatory selection process," the Minister of Culture said.

SDE MP: Women excluded in absence of binding obligation

SDE submitted the bill to the Riigikogu in February. One of its MPs, Züleyxa Izmailova, said while current law regulates the composition and formation of the national broadcasting supervisory board, it lacks an explicit requirement to ensure gender representation.

In practice, this has led to a male-dominated board, she said. "For a long time, the ERR supervisory board has consisted of 10 men. Representatives of both genders bring different experiences, perspectives, and knowledge to the decision-making process, which reduces the risk of bias and increases the breadth and credibility of the national broadcasting council," Izmailova outlined.

ERR is just one example of this phenomenon among Estonia's public and state institutions, Izmailova said, one of a recurring pattern where if there is no binding obligation to include women on boards, this generally either doesn't happen or only happens when it is easy or convenient to do so.

According to Izmailova, the aim of the SDE legislative amendment is to strengthen the implementation of the principle of gender equality on the highest governing body of public broadcasting and to head off situations, both now and in the future, where the supervisory board would consist only of members of one gender.

SDE's own representative on the board is a man also, Raimon Kaljulaid, despite the party having four women MPs plus two unaffiliated "window seat" MPs who are members of SDE but do not sit with its Riigikogu faction.

The ERR supervisory board consists of an MP from each of the represented Riigikogu parties, currently six, along with three independent experts, plus the supervisory board chair.

The body's current composition is: Sulev Valner (chair); independent experts: Paavo Nõgene, Raul Rebane and Rein Veidemann; Riigikogu MPs:, Vadim Belobrovtsev (Center), Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), Valdo Randpere (Reform), Marek Reinaas (Eesti 200), Priit Sibul (Isamaa) and Varro Vooglaid (EKRE).

The supervisory board is aimed at ensuring balanced governance; most larger public and state bodies have such a board, with differing numbers of members. The supervisory board is distinct from ERR's management board, headed up by Erik Roose as board chair.

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