A draft regulation prepared by the Ministry of Culture provides that the state will pay €64,000 as a lifetime achievement award for long-standing outstanding creative work, while the annual award for outstanding work presented to the public during the previous calendar year will be €9,600.

"The amounts of the awards will not be changed and will be kept at the same level as in previous years," the explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft regulation states.

This has drawn criticism from both the Estonian Performers' Association and the Estonian Dance Art and Dance Education Association.

The Estonian Performers' Association (EEL) told Culture Minister Heidy Purga that the amounts of the cultural awards should be reviewed to determine whether they remain appropriate.

"The lifetime achievement award for culture was set at 1 million kroons as early as 2008, which was equivalent to approximately €64,000 when Estonia adopted the euro. Thus, the €64,000 award proposed in the draft regulation essentially dates back to 2008 and its real value has not been adjusted to account for price increases over nearly two decades. The €9,600 annual award is likewise based on the previous award of 150,000 kroons," EEL Executive Director Urmas Ambur said.

Monika Tomingas, executive director of the Estonian Dance Art and Dance Education Association, likewise said that the awards should reflect real-life conditions and therefore change over time.

"Compared with 2012, inflation in the eurozone has been 36 percent and €9,000 in 2012 is equivalent to €12,000 in 2026," Tomingas said.

She added that, where possible, the award amounts could be tied to the minimum salary for cultural workers, for example. This would mean that €12,000 could be defined in the regulation as seven times the minimum monthly salary for cultural workers.

Culture lifetime achievement award falls short of Olympic gold medal grant

Urmas Ambur, in turn, noted by way of comparison that while the minimum wage for full-time work is €946 per month this year, the national annual cultural award is already less than 12 months' gross pay for a person earning the minimum wage.

"In EEL's view, this raises the question of whether a €9,600 award still adequately reflects the weight and significance of this recognition in today's economic environment. The national cultural award is a prestigious state honor for outstanding creative work and its monetary value should also be commensurate with the significance and stature of that recognition," Ambur said.

He added that cultural award amounts are changed only at very long intervals and that if the amounts are set now, it must be taken into account that they could remain in effect for many years.

According to the head of the performers' association, it is understandable that the state needs to limit spending growth, but the amount awarded by the state to recognize outstanding creative professionals should nevertheless be worthy of a national honor. While the 1 million kroon lifetime achievement award in 2008 was undoubtedly a significant and substantial honor, the purchasing power of today's €64,000 award, which is approximately equivalent in nominal terms, is no longer comparable to what it was then.

Ambur noted that an athlete who wins an Olympic gold medal receives a €100,000 award and said the cultural lifetime achievement award should be at least in the same range.

Cultural associations have also raised questions about the procedures of the cultural awards committee. Under the regulation, the committee decides on awards by a simple majority vote. If no candidate receives a simple majority, a second round of voting is held among the candidates who received the most votes.

"If the committee is unable to reach a decision by simple majority in the second round of voting, the committee chair, or in their absence the committee member acting in their place, decides whether to hold another round of voting, select a particular candidate, draw lots or divide the award among several candidates," the explanatory memorandum states.

Committee chair has right to decide recipients

The Estonian Performers' Association said it is unclear why the committee chair would have the right to favor a particular candidate if no majority has been reached.

"In essence, this arrangement would allow the committee chair to select the recipient of the award even if the committee itself has been unable to secure the required majority for that candidate," Ambur said.

The Estonian Directors and Playwrights Union also considered the decision-making authority granted to the committee chair excessive.

"In other words, if the vote fails twice, the decision can be made by one person — namely, the culture minister. As we know, this is a political position held by someone who represents a particular worldview," said Triin Laas, information and organizational manager at the Estonian Directors and Playwrights Union.

She suggested that one solution would be to give the committee greater decision-making authority, for example through an additional round of voting, a points system, rankings or a similar method.

The Estonian Directors and Playwrights Union also said it does not consider it reasonable that experts are not included on the committee that decides the awards.

The Estonian Performers' Association additionally pointed out that drawing lots, as proposed in the draft regulation, is not an appropriate mechanism for deciding national cultural awards. Such a decision would be based on chance, while the purpose of the awards is to recognize outstanding creative work, which requires a substantive assessment.

The Ministry of Culture gave a brief response to ERR's request for comment.

"The proposed amendment to the regulation did not envisage changing the amounts of the national cultural awards, so the annual award and lifetime achievement award will remain at their current levels for now," communications adviser Liisi Rohtung said.

She added that the question of the size of the awards would certainly need to be revisited in the future.

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