Juhandi says Estonia helps shape EU decisions

Estonia is represented in every European Union decision, from the ministerial level to prime ministers, Estonian ambassador to the EU Katrin Juhandi told ERR’s Vikerraadio.

Juhandi said it may seem that decisions are made somewhere else on Estonia’s behalf, but an Estonian representative is involved in the process. She was interviewed by journalist Arp Müller on the programme “Friday Interview” about how EU regulations are created and how Estonia defends its positions.

She said the EU should also be viewed through the lens of security. In recent years, the bloc has taken significant decisions on improving defence readiness, developing and financing the defence industry, supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, and accelerating its integration with the EU.

“That is our security as well,” Juhandi said, adding that the EU is therefore present in security-related issues despite often receiving less attention than NATO.

Much of the EU’s work also concerns the economy and the single market, she said. These subjects can quickly become technical, even though they affect everyday life.

Juhandi pointed to the absence of border checks when travelling by car between EU countries, automatic mobile data roaming and the possibility of using some public services in Belgium with an Estonian identity card. Social security systems also operate across borders, she said.

People often notice these arrangements only when something goes wrong. During the Covid-19 pandemic, countries rapidly closed their borders for various reasons, briefly showing how the single market could stop functioning when agreed rules were disrupted.

Juhandi said the single market was not perfect, particularly from the perspective of businesses, which could benefit from simpler administration and easier cross-border operations.

She also said Estonia needed a more substantive debate about how the EU’s systems work, what they mean for the country and what compromises they require. The technical nature of these issues may be one reason they receive less public attention.