2013 Action Plan only halfway done

TALLINN - Over half of the tasks requiring a government decision, ones which were listed in the government’s action plan for 2013 last spring, were not fulfilled on time; at the ministerial level, around every fifth task planned for the year was not fulfilled, reports Postimees. One of the factors delaying the process was the length and time taken to approve the new budget for the European Union.

“When compiling the action plan at the start of the year, ministries set rather ambitious deadlines,” State Chancellery deputy strategy director Mart Loite said. “However, the majority of the tasks are scheduled for the end of the year and when those are delayed, the real fulfilment [of tasks] is postponed till the new year.”
From the tasks that required a government decision, 45 percent were fulfilled by the end of the year while in 2012, the figure was 52 percent, and in 2011, it was 50 percent. Out of a total of 102 tasks, the government completed 46, while only 25 tasks were completed according to schedule and 21 with a delay.

The causes as to why 56 tasks are still not completed were distributed as follows: 29 tasks havenot been fulfilled because of administrative inability, 26 tasks because of differences of opinion of the involved parties and 1 because of a shortage of funds.
For example, due to administrative inability, the government still has not been presented with the strategy ‘Integrating Estonia 2020;’ the approval of the so-called green books of alcohol and tobacco policy has been delayed, as well as the transport investments plan till 2020. Estonia’s future European Union presidency action plan, the deadline for submitting which was the fourth quarter of this year, will reach the government only in the middle of January.

The state, with tasks planned for the ministerial level, is much better: 78 percent of them were fulfilled by the end of the year. Last year the indicator was 58 percent, and in 2011, 63 percent.
The State Chancellery also keeps the score on the general state of fulfilling the coalition agreement of the Reform Party and Pro Patria and Res Publica Union. Out of 511 provisions there, 15 percent have been completely implemented, 26 percent have been partly implemented, and 46 percent are in the works.