“Estonia shows: The euro is not to be blamed for Europe’s economic woes”

The streets of Tallinn are stunning, nobody seems to suffer from the former communist regime or the recent crisis. Euroskop spoke to Urmas Paet, Minister of Foreign Affairs, about the reasons for Estonia’s success, SMS voting, and our common currency. 

What is the main reason for Estonia to be part of the EU? Economic, political, or cultural integration? 

In short, all of them. Every country’s aim is to have security and wellbeing. Economic and political integration provide both. Increasing political and economic integration mean that Estonia is fully accepted as part of Europe, that Estonia’s independence and belonging to the EU cannot be questioned by anyone. And culturally it was only natural for Estonia to return to its European roots after having regained independence. Our road to becoming the most integrated country in the region has demonstrated the benefits of all these levels of integration.

As we experienced on our trip through 20 countries, only few young people are interested in European politics. It seems that not even “fancy” digital voting mechanisms as in Estonia can increase election turnout. Why is that? And what can be done? 

Governments cannot force people to vote. It is the responsibility of governments to provide the means to do so and to ensure that elections are free and fair. This has been an aim for us in Estonia and it is something that we have been very successful at. Secure Internet-based e-voting increases voters’ freedom.

But I cannot agree that voter turnout is low everywhere. Just look at the recent French presidential elections. It depends on how much is at stake and how much people feel their voice can make a difference. Admittedly, we have some work to do at the European level to decrease what has been called a democratic deficit.

Europe can give a lot to Estonia, especially in terms of a common voice in international politics. What can Estonia give back? 

Estonia in Europe and Europe with Estonia is a two-way road. We have a lot to offer and to learn from one another. Estonia has its unique experience that we can share. We have been a political, economic and technological success-story. In addition to sharing our experience with free-market and political reforms as well as with e-solutions, we have recently managed to show how to come out of a financial and economic crisis. The Estonian example shows that the euro as a currency is not to blame for Europe’s economic woes. Estonia can help others realise that reducing debt and deficit levels leads to economic growth and falling unemployment.

What has been the biggest failure of EU politics in the last years? How would you like to change it? 

When the euro was established it was very carefully and strictly considered what the member states have to do and which criteria they have to meet in order to participate in the currency. But unfortunately it was not considered what could be the mechanisms that will provide the stability of the euro zone. We started thinking about these issues too late and not until problems occurred and some member states started to have economic and fiscal difficulties, which had an effect on the stability of the whole euro zone.

At the moment we are all making an effort to carry out reforms aimed at stabilizing the currency. But instead, preventive measures and stability mechanisms, should have been created together with the set of strict requirements that regulated the entering into the euro zone. That would have made our current situation a lot easier, but with our common effort we can still assure the stability of the euro zone and restore Europe’s economic growth.

If you had one minute to address the whole of the European Youth and you could motivate them for Europe’s future, what would you say? 

When we look at Europe today and think about times not so long ago, it is more than obvious, that we have really achieved a lot. Starting from security issues and concluding with the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. The EU has really been a true success-story.

We have created together something that a few decades ago seemed an unrealistic utopian dream. So we should all be proud of our work and commitment. But at the same time we should really appreciate what we have because freedom, justice and equality have not always been the prevailing values assured to all in Europe.

The question were posed via e-mail. 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>