Kallas: We want greater saving

Photo: Margus Ansu

Prime Minister and head of the Reform Party Kaja Kallas toured Harju County on September 17. She met with the Lääne-Harju Cooperation Assembly and gave Postimees a short interview. We went over Kallas’ agenda and planned changes to the state budget process and organizing agency cooperation.

What can the government do to bring the price of electricity under control?

The price is already falling. We have market prices that have mostly been favorable. The reason for the current high price of electricity is three-pronged. The first is the CO2 quota price that has climbed from €30 to €60, which is to say that all carbon-based energy sources are very expensive. Unfortunately, renewables – solar, wind and Norwegian hydroelectricity – have cut production, which is causing the price to fluctuate. People who are having a hard time can turn to local governments [for subsistence benefit] for help for the duration of high prices. I do not believe we should go down the path of regulating the price. We have mostly enjoyed cheaper electricity since joining the Nord Pool in 2013.

Coronavirus cases are on the rise, with nursing homes for the elderly most at risk. Are there any plans for changing the recent coronavirus strategy?

We discussed booster doses [of vaccine] in the cabinet on Thursday. Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik (Center) promised to introduce a plan for moving forward on Tuesday. Protecting the elderly is becoming a concern as too many nursing home customers are taking ill.

The pace of vaccination leaves something to be desired.

Yes, the pace of vaccination has stalled. It has also happened in other countries, while it has stalled on a lower level in Estonia. The new team at the Ministry of Social Affairs has come up with a series of out-of-the-box solutions to reach as many people as possible. Looking at anti-vaccinationists, so-called doubters – we need to convince these people, while it requires more time. We need to do more. People with medical education, including medical students are calling people and conducting motivational interviews. The main reason people refuse to be vaccinated is fear of side-effects. Medical students can do a lot to alleviate such fears. Convincing people will take more time, but it is an effort we need to make.

Are there plans for rendering the state budget more comprehensible? So that MPs would not simply dismiss it as something they wouldn’t understand.

Members of the government have the same problem. We have discussed how to clarify the budget at two cabinet meetings now. So that next to expenses and revenue we would have an overview of what they mean. We will draft next year’s state budget based on new principles. Reading the budget, one needs to understand where money is going and where it comes from based on which MPs can make proposals to amend. What is more, changes inside the fiscal year the effects of which go beyond 30 percent of recent volume or certain sums would see those parts of the budget automatically move back to the Riigikogu. We want to render the whole system more transparent. To avoid a situation where the budget is approved by the parliament once and the government takes it from there.

The Government Office is working on crisis preparedness legislation to merge the Emergency Situation Act, National Defense Act and the State of Emergency Act. Two decades ago, the functions of the Government Office were divided between ministries, while the new law would once again increase the office’s role. Why is that necessary?

The idea of the Preparedness Act follows actual crises, what we have learned. A major all-encompassing crisis requires central management. We cannot have the interior ministry giving orders to the social ministry and vice versa in a crisis. Leadership needs to be centered around the prime minister in such situations. The idea of the law is to make sure civil agencies stand ready to solve crises. This requires central leadership.

Have you also heeded the lessons of the coronavirus crisis?

The Preparedness Act emulates Finland in many aspects. The late Johannes Kert spent much of his time preparing this law. However, it is not a wartime law as we need to be prepared for very different crises. The coronavirus crisis is one example.

Will the Government Office also be in charge should Lukashenko and Putin send us cross-border migrants?

That is rather a military matter in the administrative area of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The aim of the law is to have all agencies working in a coordinated fashion.