Estonian National Museum seeks public-law status under a new law

The Estonian National Museum wants to become a public-law institution under a dedicated law, rather than operate as a foundation, its director Laura Kipper said in an interview with Sirp, ERR reported. A draft law changing the museum’s legal status has completed an interagency consultation round.

The proposal follows nearly two decades of museum reform. The current coalition agreement calls for the reform to be completed, and the Estonian National Museum and Palamuse Museum are the only two museums whose legal status has yet to be changed.

Kipper said the initiative came from the state, the museum’s owner. The Ministry of Culture asked whether the museum should become a foundation or a public-law institution, with the ministry favouring the foundation model. But Kipper said the museum had long considered that model unsuitable. When the proposal was presented at a general meeting, those present unanimously backed public-law status.

In Kipper’s view, the law governing foundations sets out an agreement between a private-law institution and the state as its founder. For the museum, that framework is too restrictive and too easy to change. She said the museum had served the public since its establishment and that public value had been central to its 117-year history.

Museum reform has focused on efficiency, Kipper said, adding that the Estonian National Museum does not oppose efficiency but culture cannot be measured by it alone. She said the new law would give the museum clearer responsibility for using and sharing knowledge gathered through research, while the drafting process had also helped clarify what “public value” means.

Kipper said the Ministry of Culture had been a good partner in the process. She also credited museum adviser Marju Reismaa, the minister and the parliamentary culture committee with supporting the effort.