Estonia approves bill changing public broadcaster’s funding and governance

The Estonian government has approved a bill to amend the law governing Estonian Public Broadcasting, or ERR, and will send it to parliament, ERR reported. The proposed changes cover the broadcaster’s funding and governance.

The government says the bill would update a legal framework that is nearly 20 years old to reflect today’s media and digital environment and European Union law. Culture Minister Heidy Purga said the changes would also give ERR a clearer funding model and help it fulfil its public-service role.

The bill proposes a four-year funding framework agreement intended to make funding more transparent and predictable. It would also define ERR’s public-service remit without tying it to particular technologies, recognising that the broadcaster operates online as well as on radio and television.

The proposal would establish an independent mechanism to assess the impact of new, significant media services and revise ERR’s management model. Contracts for editors-in-chief, editorial department heads and the ethics adviser, which are currently open-ended, would become fixed-term contracts of up to five years. The bill would also specify ERR’s role in promoting education, lifelong learning and media literacy.

ERR board chair Erik Roose said the proposed model would provide long-term funding but would not ensure it was sufficient or sustainable, as required by the European Union’s Media Freedom Act. He said rising living costs would reduce the funding’s real value and that any increase would still depend on political decisions.

Roose said more clarity was needed on how funding would change over the four-year period and whether it would affect areas such as salaries or coverage of major events.

Under the recently completed state budget, ERR is due to receive 44.76 million euros in 2027, up from 43.46 million euros the previous year. The increase includes 530,000 euros for pay rises and 770,000 euros in funds planned for ERR’s broad-based national defence costs, which are being transferred from a government reserve to the Culture Ministry’s budget.

The amendments are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.