Other ministries are also applying for money from the €6.5 billion EU fund, with desires ranging from increasing food security to training people with low levels of education.

Estonia will be getting the €6.5 billion from the European Fund, part of the EU's long-term budget, for the National Partnership Plan for the years 2028-2034. Implementing all the ideas would cost twice as much as the money is available, as applications have been received for a total of €13.3 billion.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is requesting €50.4 million for the implementation of personalized medicine. The reform aims to shift the focus of healthcare from treatment to early prevention, using genomic and health data to identify high-risk patients earlier and provide them with personalized prevention and treatment.

The ministry points out that currently prevention is fragmented and largely based on age, not risk. Genetic and health data are not connected to the health information system, and gaps in data exchange prevent the safe use of genomic data. The reform should proponents say help identify people at high genetic risk early.

The reform focuses on three pillars. The first stage relates to smart services for all people.

"DNA data is data capital for the entire lifespan," the Ministry of Social Affairs stated. It aims to gradually sequence the entire genome of newborns and compile a genetic map of 40-60-year-olds, along with a prevention and treatment journey. This would allow for risk-based screening and the implementation of prevention programs.

The second pillar, the Ministry of Social Affairs sees, is more efficient infrastructure, as current buildings and services do not allow for the widespread implementation of personalized medicine. The plan is to connect donor portals and databases with the TEHIK health information system.

The most important investment in this pillar is the construction of a new modern center for the genetics and personal medicine clinic at the Tartu University hospital, complete with laboratories and other necessary facilities. This would help reduce duplication and would also serve as a training base for genetics specialists.

The Ministry of Social Affairs highlighted raising public awareness and genetic counselors as the third pillar, specifically the use of genetic information, which requires increased health literacy, while dedicated genetic counselors are needed to achieve this.

According to the plan, health care would first start using risk score calculations, along with risk-based screening and prevention guidance. Genetic counseling would be integrated at the family doctor and nurse level, which in turn would require increasing the number of training places in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education wants to guide troubled youth back to education

The Ministry of Education is meanwhile requesting €340 million for support for young people in their education and self-fulfillment. The ministry cites as justification that the proportion of young people with a low level of education in Estonia is nearly 11 percent, but the state would like this figure to drop below 7.5 percent by 2035.

With the investment, the Ministry of Education wants to create a systemic intervention package consisting of activities to support young people to stay on the learning path.

The Ministry of Education is also requesting €537 million to shape knowledge and future skills to increase competitiveness. Among other things, flexible programs such as micro-degrees or work-based learning will be developed to include adults in higher education.

Since nearly 100,000 Estonians have a basic education or lower, in a country of 1.3 million people, the adult non-formal education system will be redesigned to reach them. The current universal provision of free training will be replaced by an approach where the state directs support to target groups who would not be able to pay for their own education.

A talent program will also be launched, offering scholarships to the strongest foreign students in fields with a high labor demand, a support measure will be created to recall researchers who have moved abroad, and universities will be encouraged to bring EU research funding to Estonia, promising state co-financing for the most important major projects.

The Ministry of Culture says it to promote the mental and physical health and activity of Estonian society to the tune of €195 million. To this end, the ministry wants to promote physical activity through county sports associations and NGOs and integrate physical activity and culture into education. For example, kindergartens should be offered further training and assistance in purchasing sports equipment.

It should also organize programs that support the development of young talents and make digitized cultural heritage available in teaching. In addition, the ministry wants to make sports and cultural facilities more energy-efficient.

Reform merges social and health services

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is requesting €78 million to maintain workforce activity and increase productivity. To this end, the ministry plans to include the elderly, young people, people with reduced work capacity, and people who have migrated to Estonia from elsewhere in the labor market, and this requires prevention and counseling services to improve working conditions and support people's preparations to enter and remain in the labor market.

In addition, the Ministry of the Interior wants 16.6 million to ensure gender equality and accessibility. This will promote a society that values ​​equality and also plans algorithmic discrimination monitoring, with special attention to social benefits, education, the labor market and benefits, migration and residence permits.

The Ministry of Social Affairs wants to create a person-centered TERVIK system to support health and well-being with €84.8 million. This is a reform that combines social and health services into a comprehensive system. The reform aims to develop county health and social service organizations, or TERVIKs, that would deal with the health and social problems of the residents of their regions.

In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs is requesting €128.5 million to strengthen independent living and well-being in a shrinking and aging society. The ministry argues that due to the aging population, the number of people in need of assistance is growing faster than the system can respond, and the focus of the social sector must shift to early intervention and flexible services.

The aim is to redesign the special care infrastructure so that there are fewer large institutions and living environments are smaller and more family-like.

The aim is to better link subsistence allowance, food assistance, debt counseling, and housing services, and to promote digital solutions to better use data for early detection. This reform also supports the development of TERVIK.

The Ministry of Social Affairs wants €24 million to reform child welfare and support services, including victim assistance, so that victim assistance is integrated with the police and healthcare. In addition, the ministry wants to create a county-wide child protection organization, where different services would be linked and become available even in small municipalities.

There are also plans to expand orphanages and offer preventive services for children with special needs so that families can get help at the right time.

Mental health treatment needs changes

Using €121.2 million, the Ministry of Social Affairs wants to reform mental health treatment and community services, because they currently do not meet people's expectations or needs.

To improve the situation, the ministry believes that services need to be systematically reorganized. For example, the aim is to make the support system for mood and anxiety disorders more tiered, so that there are more early and more easily accessible services in primary health care, the provider of which does not necessarily have to be a mental health specialist. A person would only be referred to intensive services if less intensive services have not proven effective.

At the same time, it is necessary to train family doctors and nurses in mental health and to add community services, i.e. services close to home that provide mental health support.

The third activity focuses on modernizing psychiatric treatment and improving the quality of services. The Ministry of Social Affairs highlights the urgent need to upgrade the psychiatric clinics of the North Estonia Regional Hospital (PERH), Tallinn Children's Hospital and Tartu University Hospital into modern psychiatric service and mental health centers.

Developments too are planned for the Jämejala Mental Health Center at Viljandi Hospital, to consolidate services for patients with severe disorders. In addition, early help for addictive behavior will be focused on.

The Ministry of Social Affairs would like to utilize €21.6 million towards public health reform to prevent diseases and reduce risk behavior. This requires better assessment and prevention of health risks, not funding ineffective activities, and the creation of a prevention consulting and development center that promotes research in this area.

Ministry of Regional Development and Agriculture wants to boost food security with €1.2 billion

The Ministry of Regional Development and Agriculture is requesting nearly €1.206 billion to promote food security in Estonia. With this investment package, the ministry wants to ensure that the people of Estonia have enough food in both normal and crisis situations.

In agriculture, investments would be needed in areas where domestic production is insufficient, especially pork, poultry, eggs, horticultural products, potatoes, etc. In animal husbandry, the ministry says it would like to contribute to the welfare of dispersed animals and cage-free chicken coops.

Estonian poultry and egg production depends entirely on imported chicks, and to mitigate this risk, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to support investments in hatcheries. In horticulture and potato growing, the ministry wants to direct money into new technologies and improving production storage conditions. When it comes to fisheries, the goal is to increase the volume of domestic fish production and promote marine aquaculture.

The program also includes investments in increasing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises, the introduction of new technologies, and manure management.

In order for the food production sector to be able to respond quickly to unexpected situations, the ministry wants to encourage investments in increasing energy security and storage, increasing on-site reserves, mitigating agricultural weather risks, and increasing preparedness for disease outbreaks.

As a separate activity, the application highlights school schemes, a measure of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), one that is mandatory for the state but cannot be financed from its agricultural policy budget. The aim of the school scheme is to distribute fruit and vegetables and unflavored milk and dairy products to children in schools in order to improve children's eating habits and increase their consumption of these products.

The Ministry of Climate is seeking €60.2 million in support to strengthen forests as a strategic resource. The plan envisages improving the quality and climate resilience of forests, increasing biodiversity and ensuring raw material security.

The Ministry of Justice is requesting €23.7 million to protect and promote the rule of law. This would increase the technical capacity and security of courts and the continuity of communications in crisis situations or in the event of evacuation.

The reform of forensic expertise aims to create a system of forensic psychiatric expertise, while in civil enforcement proceedings, a flexible legal environment that reduces bureaucracy. The reform of corruption prevention and conflict of interest aims to create a comprehensive system that increases the credibility of the public sector and increases the transparency of decision-making processes, including lobbying. The Ministry of Justice also wants to use artificial intelligence to improve the quality of lawmaking.

Ministry of Culture hopes to improve integration

The Ministry of Culture is applying for €98.5 million for the "Cohesive Estonia" program to increase the openness, cohesion, and security of society through activities that support integration.

Among other things, language learning, promoting community work, and creating suitable meeting places have been highlighted, as well as increasing the capacity of religious associations through the Estonian Council of Churches.

The Ministry of Culture also wants to prevent radicalization, and to do this, it is necessary to create a training system and materials, develop IT solutions, and conduct research and monitoring on the prevention of radicalization.

The Government Office wishes to strengthen the quality of strategic management and policy-making with the X "A Country Capable of Reform" program and is requesting €67.1 million for this purpose. The program aims to streamline tasks, responsibilities and division of labor in the government sector, as well as cooperation between the state and local governments, and strengthen management capacity and strategic cooperation, as well as innovation capacity.

The Ministry of the Interior is requesting nine million euros for a reform of paperless criminal proceedings, which would transfer criminal and administrative proceedings to digital files with machine-processable content. This, in turn, should help to conduct proceedings faster.

Last summer, the European Commission presented a proposal for the EU's long-term budget for 2028-2034. The new European Fund, which will be distributed among the member states, forms its first pillar.

The requests, of which 50 were received, are divided by purpose. ERR has previously reported about requests supporting sustainable prosperity and defense capability and security .

Discussions will now begin based on the ministries' applications, and the government will discuss the distribution of subsidies in August and September. In the first stage, 75 percent of the state plan volume, or €4.97 billion, will be spent on planning.

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