Estonia’s municipal reformers say the overhaul needs further steps

Estonia’s administrative reform, which cut the number of municipalities by nearly threefold, was necessary but should have gone further, one of its main advocates says. In an interview with ERR, former regional minister Arto Aas also said a sharp fall in birth rates means the calculations behind the mergers will need to be revisited.

The reform followed decades of debate and took effect in 2017, reducing the number of municipalities from 213 to 79. Aas, who was regional minister at the time, described it as a success, citing studies and the views of most experts.

“The number of municipalities fell by nearly three times, and they are much more capable than before, which was the main goal of the reform,” Aas said. He added that, despite shortcomings, the process created a positive precedent by showing that municipalities could be reformed within the framework of the constitution.

Siim Kiisler, now deputy chairman of the Parempoolsed party, helped lead efforts to develop the reform but was no longer regional minister when it was implemented. He said the requirements should have encouraged larger mergers and allowed fewer exceptions, with smaller municipalities joining larger centres rather than merging mainly with one another.

Kiisler said some small-municipality leaders chose mergers that could improve their election results. The result, he argued, was that some new municipalities lacked a clear centre and continued to dispute where services such as a gymnasium should be located. Residents could also face practical difficulties, such as disagreements over which municipality should cover the cost of a child attending a music school in a neighbouring centre.

Kiisler said the reform should also have done more to attract investment and create jobs. Still, he said, fewer municipalities with very limited capacity remain, and there has been little appetite to split them back into their former smaller units.

Aas said the requirement for municipalities to have at least 5,000 residents was a reasonable compromise at the time. But demographic trends, especially the sharp decline in births, mean the calculations will need to be reviewed. He said population is not the only consideration: the size of a municipality’s territory, its functions and its funding also matter.