Eesti in brief - 2011-07-14

Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet stated that Estonia will certainly support EU integration of Western Balkan countries, reports National Broadcasting. He stated that Croatia will be a role model and an inspiration to the countries in this region. Paet took part in the Croatian summit in Dubrovnik where the matters involving development and future perspectives in the Western Balkan region were discussed. According to the Estonian minister, the completion of the accession negotiation with Croatia is a testament of the viability of the EU enlargement policy and will also demonstrate to the other Western Balkan countries that a consistent implementation of reforms is the right way towards acceding to the EU. Paet added that “It is in our interests to have a stable and developing Western Balkans region and we continue to be prepared to share our experiences with reforms with these countries.”

A report indicated that in 2008, the ratio of Estonia’s spending on social protection benefits in GDP was the third lowest among the EU countries, reports Postimees Online. The Report on Europe 2020’s Social Dimension stated that only Latvia and Romania spent a smaller part of its GDP on social protection benefits in 2008. While Estonia spent 15 percent of its GDP on social protection benefits, in Latvia the share was a little higher than 12 percent. The EU average was nearly 25 percent in 2008, the highest in France (nearly 30 percent), Denmark and in Sweden. According to the report, the share of people at-risk of poverty has grown constantly during the past few years in Estonia and is reaching nearly 20 percent.

While the popularity of e-commerce is growing in Estonia, only 43 percent of Internet users use the option of buying services and goods online, reports Postimees Online. The principal concern for Estonians is the danger of becoming victim to fraudulent retailers and other salespersons online. A recent survey by Eurobarometer demonstrated that the rate of Internet users also using e-commerce in Estonia is significantly lower than the EU average, which is 60 percent. Estonian online shoppers also fear the possibility that the data they present would be used without their knowledge and that information about them would be forwarded to third persons without their knowledge. The most active online shoppers are in the Netherlands and in Denmark, where 81 percent of Internet users buy goods from e-stores.

During the past few months, the number of new job offers received by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund has been the highest ever, reports Postimees Online. In April the fund received 4,156 new job offers; in May 4,954 and in June 4,041. The total number of job vacancies mediated by the Unemployment Insurance Fund in June was 7,545. The last time this number was so high was in 2008. “The more significant changes on the labor market that have taken place during the past few months are reflected by the remarkable increase in the number of new job offers,” stated the head of the Unemployment Insurance Fund Meelis Paavel. As of the end of June, there were 52,347 persons registered as unemployed – i.e. 8.1 percent of the labor force.