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Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Estonia

COM/2021/625 final

Date of document:: 05/10/2021
Date of dispatch:: 05/10/2021; Chur ar aghaidh chuig an gComhairle
Date of dispatch:: 05/10/2021; Ar aghaidh chuig an bParlaimint
Date of end of validity:: No end date

Author:: An Coimisiún Eorpach, Ard-Rúnaíocht
Responsible body:: SG
Form:: Togra le haghaidh cinnidh fheidhmithe

Procedure number:

2021/0319/NLE

Link

European Parliament - Legislative observatory

Treaty:

An Conradh ar Fheidhmiú an Aontais Eorpaigh

Legal basis:

32021R0241 - A20

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Select all documents mentioning this document

Instruments cited:

Related document(s):

52021SC0285 Relation

EUROVOC descriptor:

Subject matter:

Beartas eacnamaíoch

Directory code:

10.30.20.00 Beartas eacnamaíoch agus airgeadaíochta agus saorghluaiseacht chaipitil / Beartas eacnamaíoch / Ionstraimí den bheartas eacnamaíoch

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 5.10.2021

COM(2021) 625 final

2021/0319(NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION

on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Estonia

{SWD(2021) 285 final}

2021/0319 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION

on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Estonia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility 1 and in particular Article 20 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)The COVID-19 outbreak has had a disruptive impact on the economy of Estonia. In 2019, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of Estonia was 67% of the Union average. According to the Commission’s summer 2021 forecast, the real GDP of Estonia declined by 2,9% in 2020, but is expected to increase by 1,8% cumulatively in 2020 and 2021. Long standing aspects with an impact on medium-term economic performance include population ageing, regional and social disparities, relatively low resource productivity and high intensity of greenhouse gas emissions.

(2)On 9 July 2019 and on 20 July 2020, the Council addressed recommendations to Estonia in the context of the European Semester. In particular, the Council recommended Estonia to improve the adequacy of the social safety net, including by broadening the coverage of unemployment benefits, and access to affordable and integrated social services, and to take measures to reduce the gender pay gap, including by improving wage transparency. It also recommended to improve the accessibility and resilience of the health system, including by addressing the shortages of health workers, strengthening primary care and ensuring the supply of critical medical products. Moreover, it recommended to address skills shortages and foster innovation by improving the capacity and labour market relevance of the education and training system. It was also recommended to Estonia to focus investments on the green and digital transition, in particular on digitalisation of companies, research and innovation, including supporting the innovation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises, clean and efficient production and use of energy, resource efficiency and sustainable transport, contributing to a progressive decarbonisation of the economy. In addition, the Council recommended to ensure sufficient access to finance and to step up efforts to ensure the effective supervision and enforcement of the anti-money laundering framework. Finally, to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, it was recommended to Estonia to take all necessary measures to effectively address the pandemic, sustain the economy and, when economic conditions allow, to pursue fiscal policies aimed at achieving prudent medium-term fiscal positions and ensuring debt sustainability, while enhancing investment. Having assessed progress in the implementation of those country-specific recommendations at the time of submission of the recovery and resilience plan ('RRP'), the Commission finds that the recommendation on taking all necessary measures to effectively address the pandemic, sustain the economy and support the ensuing recovery has been fully implemented. Furthermore, it finds that substantial progress has been achieved with respect to the recommendations to focus investment on energy interconnections.

(3)The Council Recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area recommended to euro area Member States to take action, including through their RRPs, to, inter alia, ensure a policy stance which supports the recovery and to further improve convergence, resilience and sustainable and inclusive growth. The Council Recommendation also recommended euro area Member States to strengthen national institutional frameworks, to ensure macro-financial stability, to complete the economic and monetary union and to strengthen the international role of the euro.

(4)On 18 June, Estonia submitted its national RRP to the Commission, in accordance with Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241. That submission followed a consultation process, conducted in accordance with the national legal framework, involving local and regional authorities, social partners, civil society organisations, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders. National ownership of the RRPs underpins their successful implementation and lasting impact at national level and credibility at European level. Pursuant to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the Commission has assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of RRP, in accordance with the assessment guidelines set out in Annex V to that Regulation.

(5)The RRPs should pursue the general objectives of the Recovery and Resilience Facility established by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 (the 'Facility') and of the European Union Recovery Instrument set up by Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 2 in order to support the recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. They should promote the Union's economic, social and territorial cohesion by contributing to the six pillars referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241.

(6)The implementation of the Member States' RRPs will constitute a coordinated effort involving reforms and investments across the Union. Through coordinated and simultaneous implementation and the implementation of cross-border and multi-country projects, such reforms and investments will mutually reinforce each other and generate positive spillovers across the Union. Therefore, about one third of the impact of the Facility on Member States' growth and job creation will come from spillovers from other Member States.

Balanced response contributing to the six pillars

(7)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (a), of and Annex V, criterion 2.1, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP represents to a large extent (Rating A) a comprehensive and adequately balanced response to the economic and social situation, thereby contributing appropriately to all of the six pillars referred to in Article 3 of that Regulation, taking the specific challenges faced by and the financial allocation for the Member State concerned into account.

(8)The RRP includes measures that contribute to all of the six pillars, with each of the six components of the RRP addressing one or more pillars. Such an approach contributes to ensuring that each pillar is comprehensively addressed in a coherent manner. The contribution to the first pillar, dedicated to the green transition, is set to be supported by measures incentivising the use of renewable energy, renovation of buildings to improve their energy efficiency, as well as better public transport connectivity and incentivising the uptake of green hydrogen and generally supporting the acceleration of the green transition in enterprises, including skills required for that transition. Investments and reforms geared towards the digitalisation of the public sector and businesses as well as the improvement of the level of digital skills are all expected to contribute to achieving the objective of the second pillar, which is dedicated to digital transformation.

(9)The RRP is expected to contribute to the improvement of macro-economic performance through the mitigation of the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 crisis, while promoting export competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship, through digital and green solutions, thus supporting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as covered by the third pillar. The fourth pillar, on social and territorial cohesion, is addressed by making public services more accessible through digitalisation, by improving internet connectivity in particular in rural areas, thus aiming at reducing the digital divide, by improving transportation connectivity, as well as by the creation of sustainable jobs and skills in different parts of Estonia.

(10)The RRP includes measures aimed at strengthening the country’s health and economic, social and institutional resilience, as described in the fifth pillar. In particular, the RRP focuses directly on improving the resilience and accessibility of the health care system, and it includes measures aimed at improving access to social services in Estonia. The sixth pillar, on policies for the next generation, is supported by measures aimed at helping young people entering the labour force, through a wage subsidy, training allowance, and structural changes in the education and training system to foster information and communication technology skills and increasing the participation and share of women in such trainings and the sector in general.

Addressing all or a significant subset of challenges identified in country-specific recommendations

(11)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (b), of and Annex V, criterion 2.2, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP is expected to contribute to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of challenges (Rating A) identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations addressed to Estonia, including fiscal aspects thereof, or challenges identified in other relevant documents officially adopted by the Commission in the context of the European Semester. The recommendations related to the immediate fiscal policy response to the pandemic can be considered to fall outside the scope of Estonia’s RRP, notwithstanding the fact that Estonia has generally responded adequately and sufficiently to the immediate need to support the economy through fiscal means in 2020 and 2021, in line with the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact.

(12)The RRP includes mutually reinforcing reforms and investments that contribute to addressing to varying degrees all or a significant subset of the economic and social challenges outlined in the country-specific recommendations addressed to Estonia by the Council in the European Semester in 2019 and in 2020, notably those in the areas of green transition, such as energy and resource efficiency, digital transition, such as digital skills and the support to the digitalisation of companies, health care, such as the resilience and accessibility of the health care system, social inclusion, such as access to affordable and integrated social and health services, and anti-money laundering, such as strengthening the analytical capabilities within the anti-money laundering framework.

(13)The RRP includes measures supporting investments in the green and digital transitions of enterprises, thus contributing to addressing the related country-specific recommendations. Those include notably the development of innovative green technologies, such as green hydrogen, green and digital skills to address the skills shortages and financial support schemes to help Estonian companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, to progress in their digital and green transformation and improve access to finance. The reforms and investments in the area of energy aim at incentivising the uptake of renewable energy, at improving the energy efficiency of buildings and at decarbonising the economy through targets and actions to phase out oil shale. Measures in the transport sector are expected to help reduce emissions and incentivise the uptake of sustainable modes of transport. The reforms include developing interconnected and shared mobility in the Tallinn capital region through a common public transport system and electrifying railways. The RRP is expected to contribute to the development of the cross-border Rail Baltic project, connecting the three Baltic capitals and countries with Poland and the rest of the Union, through investments into railways, tramline, bike- and walkways to stations and the Rail Baltic multimodal terminal.

(14)Reforms and investments in strengthening primary care, addressing health workforce shortages, modernising e-health governance and improving health infrastructure, including the construction of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus should increase the accessibility and resilience of the health care system. The access to social services is expected to be improved by measures on long-term care, including those modernising and simplifying the support system for children with higher care needs, and by the action plan on the integration of social and health care services. The measures on reducing the gender pay gap should contribute to social cohesion. The investment in supporting young people to gain work experience and improve their skills is expected to contribute to addressing skills shortages, as well as alleviating youth unemployment. The extension of the duration of the unemployment insurance benefit by 60 days in case of adverse labour market conditions contributes to some extent to strengthening the social safety net. The reforms and investments in the health, social and digital areas should also contribute to reducing regional disparities.

(15)Complementary to recent measures on anti-money laundering, the RRP includes a measure aiming at establishing a strategic analysis centre within the Financial Intelligence Unit to allow more operational identification of, response to and prevention of money laundering risks, thus contributing to the reinforcement of the anti-money laundering framework.

(16)The RRP provides a basis for further reforms in the social and health area, to address health workforce shortages, improve the quality and access to long-term care for all people with care needs, broaden the coverage of the unemployment benefit and reduce the gender pay gap, in particular by increasing wage transparency. The measures included in the RRP to address the decarbonisation of the economy are mainly related to investments. In terms of reforms, the concrete actions to phase out oil shale are expected to be set out in the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector only at the end of 2025.

Contribution to growth potential, job creation and economic, social and institutional resilience

(17)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (c), of and Annex V, criterion 2.3, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP is expected to have a high impact (Rating A) on strengthening the growth potential, job creation and economic, social and institutional resilience of Estonia, contributing to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, including through the promotion of policies for children and youth, and on mitigating the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 crisis, thereby enhancing the economic, social and territorial cohesion and convergence within the Union.

(18)Simulations by the Commission services show that the RRP, together with the rest of measures of the European Union Recovery Instrument, has the potential to increase the GDP of Estonia by between 0,9% and 1,3% by 2026, not including the possible positive impact of the structural reforms, which can be substantial.

(19)Reforms and investments in renewable energy, sustainable mobility and further digitalisation of public services are expected to bolster sustainable growth and employment over the medium to long term. Measures aimed at developing green technologies, promoting energy efficiency and decarbonisation of the industry, including uptake of emerging new technologies such as green hydrogen, should contribute to decarbonisation and thereby to the resilience of the economy.

(20)Measures supporting the green and digital transitions are expected to increase business innovation and research and development, thus providing opportunities for increased productivity, economic competitiveness and job creation, while contributing to achieving structural changes in the economy and laying the groundwork for increased resilience, in line with the updated European industrial strategy. The expected modernisation of the economic structure should be supported by measures promoting green and digital skills to improve the skills levels of the labour force and address Estonia’s long-standing challenge of skills mismatch. The RRP includes support to the construction of high capacity broadband networks, which is expected to contribute to bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas. The investments incentivising sustainable modes of transport along with improved digital interconnections aim at fostering social and territorial cohesion.

(21)The RRP includes measures addressing relevant employment, social and health challenges and is expected to contribute to implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. Measures to strengthen primary health care, increase the health workforce, improve health infrastructure and the e-health system aim at improving access to health care, thereby helping to address the long-standing challenge of unmet medical needs. The measures addressing youth employment aim at supporting young people to gain work experience, improve their skills and enhance the growth potential of the country. As a result of the measures, the resilience of Estonia’s social and health system is expected to improve.

Do no significant harm

(22)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (d), of and Annex V, criterion 2.4, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP is expected to ensure that no measure for the implementation of reforms and investments projects included in the RRP does significant harm to environmental objectives (Rating A) within the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council 3 (the principle of 'do no significant harm').

(23)The RRP includes a systematic assessment of each measure against the principle of ‘do no significant harm’ in accordance with the 'Do no significant harm' Technical Guidance of the European Commission (2021/C58/01). The information provided underpins the assessment that measures comply with the principle of 'do no significant harm', for instance by providing detailed explanations of how circular economy considerations should be taken into account for construction projects.

(24)For some measures where calls for projects or calls for expressions of interest are necessary to select specific projects in the future or measures providing for financial instruments, such as the Green Fund, the principle of 'do no significant harm' should be complied with by ensuring, in particular through appropriate milestones associated with those measures, that the terms of reference of the calls for projects or calls for expressions of interest prevent activities that could do significant harm to environmental objectives from being selected.

Contribution to the green transition including biodiversity

(25)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (e), of and Annex V, criterion 2.5, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP contains measures that contribute to a large extent (Rating A) to the green transition, including biodiversity, or to addressing the challenges resulting therefrom. The measures supporting climate objectives account for an amount which represents 41,5% of the RRP's total allocation calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in Annex VI to that Regulation. In accordance with Article 17 of that Regulation, the RRP is consistent with the information included in the National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030.

(26)The contribution of Estonia’s RRP to the green transition is built on three pillars: green transition in enterprises, sustainable energy and energy efficiency, and sustainable transport. Decarbonisation of the economy is a key challenge for Estonia and the RRP commits the country to a clear pathway with targets and actions for phasing out oil shale in the energy sector to be set in the National Development Plan for the Energy Sector. The RRP incentivises the uptake of renewable energy by removing administrative barriers, reinforcing the grid and facilitating connection to it, as well as piloting energy storage solutions. The RRP should also contribute to introducing green hydrogen technologies in the entire value chain from production to consumption. Increased sustainability in transport should be achieved through creating new connections between various modes of sustainable transport with a focus on rail and active modes of transport such as cycling. The green transition in the business sector should be supported through the development of green technologies, increased low-carbon and climate-neutral research and innovation capabilities and resource efficiency, supporting modernisation and changes in business models in manufacturing companies and improved skills related to the green transition. The RRP has a strong circular economy business angle. The RRP contains no measures having biodiversity as their objective. However, some of the measures for climate mitigation may also be beneficial to the preservation of biodiversity, as climate change is one of the main threats to biodiversity.

(27)The RRP supports Estonia’s decarbonisation and energy transition objectives, as set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan for 2030, as well as for 2050. The measures in the RRP should support reaching a share of 42% of renewables in gross final consumption of energy, Estonia’s EU target for 2030. Investments into the electricity grid and electricity storage should help Estonia reach this target. In addition, Estonia’s RRP supports at least medium-depth building renovations, representing primary energy savings of at least 30%, which should contribute to Estonia’s 2030 energy efficiency targets and the Long-Term Renovation Strategy. The measures on sustainable transport should support the reduction of pollution from passenger car fleets, thus improve air quality, and incentivise the uptake of sustainable modes of transport, such as rail transport.

Contribution to the digital transition

(28)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (f), of and Annex V, criterion 2.6, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP contains measures that contribute to a large extent (Rating A) to the digital transition or to addressing the challenges resulting from it. The measures supporting digital objectives account for an amount which represents 21,5% of the RRP’s total allocation calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in Annex VII to that Regulation.

(29)The contribution of the RRP to the digital transition focuses mainly on two priorities: the digital transformation of enterprises and the further modernisation of public services. In order to help companies from all sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, to seize the opportunities offered by digital technologies, the RRP includes the creation of an investment scheme that should provide financial support to companies on different aspects of the digital transformation, from research and development and the development of strategies to the take-up of technologies. This investment is complemented by two measures aiming at addressing the digital transformation of two specific sectors, construction and road freight transport, where the potential of digital technologies has remained insufficiently exploited so far. Moreover, the RRP addresses the key issue of digital skills, through awareness-raising for managers of small- and medium sized enterprises and support for the upskilling and retraining of information and communication technology specialists.

(30)Building on Estonia’s position as a frontrunner in the digitalisation of public services, the RRP includes a series of measures aiming at giving new impetus to the digital transformation of the administration. The proposed reforms and investments include the migration of part of the government’s information systems to a secure cloud, the development of new digital solutions ensuring a simplified and more efficient delivery of public services to both citizens and businesses, as well as a reorganisation of the management of information systems and data held by public institutions. An investment supporting the deployment of very high capacity broadband networks in areas of market failure is also expected to reduce the digital divide and ensure that all citizens can take advantage of the envisaged advancements in the delivery of digital public services in Estonia.

Lasting impact

(31)In accordance with Article 19(3) point (g), of and Annex V, criterion 2.7, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP is expected to have a lasting impact on Estonia to a large extent (Rating A).

(32)Structural changes are expected from the implementation of the envisaged reforms. In particular, reforms aiming at fostering the green and digital transitions are expected to have a positive impact on growth potential and economic transformation, through improved efficiency, job creation and productivity growth. The RRP includes reforms aimed at promoting energy efficiency and reducing regulatory barriers for investment in renewables, which are expected to improve market functioning enough to unlock private investments in that area. The reforms focusing on digital public services are expected to contribute to improving the efficiency of public administration further and benefit both citizens and businesses. Reforms aimed at fostering digital skills development are expected to have a lasting impact on the reduction of the skills shortage faced by Estonian companies. Additional measures to reduce the gender pay gap are expected to improve gender equality and economic growth.

(33)Measures related to health are also expected to bring positive structural change in policies or institutions. In particular, the health reforms are expected to improve the accessibility and quality of health care services and reduce regional disparities in service provision, contributing to better health outcomes.

(34)Structural changes are also expected from the implementation of the envisaged investments mainly through their expected positive impact on competitiveness. The investments aiming at deploying digital solutions in the construction and road freight transport sectors are expected to have a lasting impact. The investment in the deployment of very high capacity broadband networks in market failure areas should help reducing the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Investments in transport infrastructure, such as railway, tramline, train station and cycling paths, are also expected to have lasting impact on mobility by facilitating transfers between different modes of sustainable transport.

(35)The lasting impact of the RRP can also be enhanced through synergies between the RRP and other programmes, including those financed by the cohesion policy funds, in particular by addressing in a substantive manner the deeply rooted territorial challenges and promoting a balanced development.

Monitoring and implementation

(36)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (h), of and Annex V, criterion 2.8, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the arrangements proposed in the RRP are adequate (Rating A) to ensure effective monitoring and implementation of the RRP, including the envisaged timetable, milestones and targets, and the related indicators.

(37)The RRP presents an administrative organisation for its implementation in line with the process established in the context of the management of structural funds. The RRP provides an overview of the envisaged monitoring and reporting arrangements and identifies actors and their roles and responsibilities. The State Shared Service Center serves as the managing and coordinating body. Together with the Ministry of Finance, they are the central services responsible for coordination, monitoring and evaluation whereas line ministries are tasked with the implementation and monitoring of reforms and investments in their respective field.

(38)The milestones and targets that accompany reform and investment measures included in the RRP are clear and realistic and the proposed indicators for those milestones and targets are relevant, acceptable and robust. Measures included in the RRP are supported by milestones and targets spread throughout the implementation period, although the implementation of a number of projects, including the biggest investment, are only planned for 2026. Milestones and targets are also relevant for measures already completed which are eligible according to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241. The satisfactory fulfilment of those milestones and targets over time is required to justify a disbursement request.

(39)Member States should ensure that financial support under the Facility is communicated and acknowledged in line with Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241. Technical support may be requested under the Technical Support Instrument established by Regulation (EU) 2021/240 of the European Parliament and of the Council 4 to assist Member States in the implementation of their RRP.

Costing

(40)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (i), of and Annex V, criterion 2.9, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the justification provided in the RRP on the amount of the estimated total costs of the RRP is to a medium extent (Rating B) reasonable and plausible, is in line with the principle of cost efficiency and is commensurate to the expected national economic and social impact.

(41)Estonia has provided individual cost estimates for all investments included in the RRP. The cost estimates have been validated by the Grant Management Unit of the Support Development Department of the State Shared Service Center, which is an internal government body. The cost breakdown is generally detailed and well-substantiated. The financial schemes included in the RRP are considered proportionate to the size of the corresponding sectors in Estonia, and their costs are deemed reasonable and plausible. For the other measures, comparisons with past investments of a similar nature are provided. The assessment of the cost estimates and inherent supporting documents show that most of the costs are well justified and reasonable. The amounts proposed for financing were deemed appropriate, but sometimes rather high compared to past experience or comparable projects. For this reason, the justifications provided are considered plausible only to a medium extent. Finally, the estimated total cost of the RRP is in line with the principle of cost-efficiency and is commensurate to the expected national economic and social impact.

Protection of the financial interests of the Union

(42)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (j), of and Annex V, criterion 2.10, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the arrangements proposed in the RRP and the additional measures contained in this Decision are adequate (Rating A) to prevent, detect and correct corruption, fraud and conflicts of interests when using the funds provided under that Regulation, and the arrangements are expected to effectively avoid double funding under that Regulation and other Union programmes. This is without prejudice to the application of other instruments and tools to promote and enforce compliance with Union law, including for preventing, detecting and correcting corruption, fraud and conflicts of interest, and for protecting the Union budget in line with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council 5 .

(43)The control system and arrangements proposed in the RRP of Estonia are based on robust processes and structures used in the existing national framework for the implementation of structural funds. Actors and their roles and responsibilities for the performance of the internal control tasks are clearly described in the RRP. The control system and other relevant arrangements, including for the collection and making available of all standardised categories of data set out in Article 22(2) point (d) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, are adequate with respect to preventing, detecting and correcting corruption, fraud, conflict of interest when using the funds and to avoid double funding under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and other Union programmes.

(44)The RRP envisages that the existing integrated information system, namely the Structural Funds Operating System, should be used by all institutions involved in the implementation of the RRP and that all the projects under the RRP should be recorded in that information system. Information related to each project, such as the applicant’s data, general project data, objective, budget, sources of financing, intermediate and final milestones and targets, information on implementation, payments, non-compliance procedures, should be stored in the Structural Funds Operating System. It should also record all the audits of projects and of management and control systems and support the necessary audit trail and reporting under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the different measures, milestones and targets.

(45)The administrative capacity of the central services charged with implementation and coordination of the RRP, namely the Ministry of Finance and the State Shared Service Center, and of the involved sectoral ministries is adequate to conduct their foreseen roles and tasks. A milestone should be included with regards to the enactment, before the first payment request, of the regulation setting out the legal mandate of the different bodies involved in the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2021/241.

Coherence of the RRP

(46)In accordance with Article 19(3), point (k), of and Annex V, criterion 2.11, to Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the RRP includes to a medium extent (Rating B) measures for the implementation of reforms and public investment projects that represent coherent actions.

(47)The RRP displays coherence within each component and shows thematic interlinkages and synergies between the different components, in particular those related to digital transformation and green transition. However, in some areas, coherence is not fully achieved. While the RRP includes substantial investments to foster the green and digital transition and support economic growth, more reforms to strengthen the social safety net, notably broadening the coverage of unemployment insurance benefits, could contribute to cushion possible adverse effects on certain groups. The significant investments in health infrastructure could have been accompanied by measures leading to a greater increase in the health workforce to alleviate shortages. Long-term care is envisaged to be addressed with several measures, but the coherence and interlinkage between these measures could have been better ensured with broader reforms to improve the access and quality of long-term care. The measures included in the RRP to address the decarbonisation of the economy are mainly related to investments, while concrete actions to phase out oil shale are expected to be set out in the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector only at the end of 2025 and broader reforms, such green taxation, are not envisaged. Overall, the RRP is stronger on investment than on reforms.

Equality

(48)The RRP contains measures that are expected to help Estonia to address the challenges posed by gender equality and equal opportunities for all, such as those that directly and indirectly aim to reduce the gender pay gap and address the needs of persons with disabilities such as facilitating the accessibility of the living environment. The measure on digital skills should contribute to increasing the number of women in information and communication technology and thus addressing gender segregation in the labour market. The investment to support youth employment should help young people to get in employment and thus contributing to their social inclusion. Reforms and investments included in the RRP should reduce existing social, economic and territorial disparities. The RRP refers to legislative and policy initiatives that are expected to complement the reforms and investments included in the RRP.

Security self-assessment

(49)A security self-assessment has not been provided as it has not been considered appropriate by Estonia, in accordance with Article 18(4), point (g), of Regulation (EU) 2021/241.

Cross-border and multi-country projects

(50)The RRP includes the construction of the Rail Baltic Tallinn terminal, the starting point of Rail Baltic, a cross-border project connecting the three Baltic capitals and countries with Poland and the rest of the Union. Cooperation with Finland is planned in the context of the implementation of the measure aiming at developing a virtual assistant to access digital public services.

Consultation process

(51)During the preparation of the RRP, Estonia carried out a consultation process involving key stakeholders and the general public. Two rounds of stakeholder seminars were organised during the preparation of the RRP in December 2020 and in April 2021. The seminars were targeted thematically to various groups of stakeholders, namely local and regional authorities, social partners, civil society organisations, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders. A public consultation of the full draft RRP took place in May 2021.

(52)Estonia plans to take into account the input collected from stakeholders during the consultation process when implementing the measures included in the RRP. To ensure ownership by the relevant actors, it is crucial to involve all local authorities and stakeholders concerned, including social partners, throughout the implementation of the investments and reforms included in the RRP.

Positive assessment

(53)Following the positive assessment of the Commission concerning the Estonian RRP with the finding that the RRP satisfactorily complies with the criteria for assessment set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/241, in accordance with Article 20(2) of and Annex V to that Regulation, this Decision should set out the reforms and investment projects necessary for the implementation of the RRP, the relevant milestones, targets and indicators, and the amount made available from the Union for the implementation of the RRP in the form of non-repayable financial support.

Financial contribution

(54)The estimated total cost of the RRP of Estonia is EUR 982 490 000. As the RRP satisfactorily complies with the criteria for assessment set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and, furthermore, as the amount of the estimated total costs of the RRP is higher than the maximum financial contribution available for Estonia, the financial contribution allocated for Estonia’s RRP should be equal to the total amount of the financial contribution available for Estonia.

(55)In accordance with Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the calculation of the maximum financial contribution for Estonia is to be updated by 30 June 2022. As such, in accordance with Article 23(1) of that Regulation, an amount for Estonia not exceeding the maximum financial contribution referred to in Article 11(1), point (a), of that Regulation should be made available now for a legal commitment by 31 December 2022. Where necessary following the update of the maximum financial contribution, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, should amend this Decision to include the updated maximum financial contribution, calculated in accordance with Article 11(2) of that Regulation, without undue delay.

(56)The support to be provided is to be financed from the borrowing by the Commission on behalf of the Union on the basis of Article 5 of Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 6 . The support should be paid in instalments once Estonia has satisfactorily fulfilled the relevant milestones and targets identified in relation to the implementation of the RRP.

(57)Estonia has requested pre-financing of 13% of the financial contribution. That amount should be made available to Estonia subject to the entry into force of and in accordance with the agreement provided for in Article 23(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241(the 'financing agreement').

(58)This Decision should be without prejudice to the outcome of any procedures relating to the award of Union funds under any Union programme other than the Facility or to procedures relating to distortions of the operation of the internal market that may be undertaken, in particular under Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty. It does not override the requirement for Member States to notify instances of potential State aid to the Commission under Article 108 of the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1
Approval of the assessment of the RRP

The assessment of the RRP of Estonia on the basis of the criteria provided for in Article 19(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 is approved. The reforms and investment projects under the RRP the arrangements and timetable for the monitoring and implementation of the RRP, including the relevant milestones and targets, the relevant indicators relating to the fulfilment of the envisaged milestones and targets, and the arrangements for providing full access by the Commission to the underlying relevant data are set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2
Financial contribution

1.The Union shall make available to Estonia a financial contribution in the form of non-repayable support amounting to EUR 969 299 213. 7 An amount of EUR 759 545 893 shall be available to be legally committed by 31 December 2022. If the update provided for in Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 results in an updated maximum financial contribution for Estonia that is equal to or more than EUR 969 299 213, a further amount of EUR 209 753 320 shall be available to be legally committed from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2023. If the update provided for in Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 results in an updated maximum financial contribution for Estonia that is less than EUR 969 299 213, the difference between the updated maximum financial contribution and the amount of EUR 759 545 893 shall be available to be legally committed in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 20(8) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2023.

2.The Union financial contribution shall be made available by the Commission to Estonia in instalments in accordance with the Annex to this Decision. An amount of EUR 126 008 898 shall be made available as a pre-financing payment, equal to 13% of the financial contribution. The pre-financing and instalments may be disbursed by the Commission in one or several tranches. The size of the tranches shall be subject to the availability of funding.

3.The pre-financing shall be released subject to the entry into force of, and in accordance with the financing agreement. Pre-financing shall be cleared by being proportionally deducted against the payment of the instalments.

4.The release of instalments in accordance with the financing agreement shall be conditional on available funding and a decision by the Commission, taken in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, that Estonia has satisfactorily fulfilled the relevant milestones and targets identified in relation to the implementation of the RRP. In order to be eligible for payment, Estonia shall complete the milestones and targets no later than 31 August 2026, subject to the entry into force of the legal commitments referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 3
Addressee

This Decision is addressed to the Republic of Estonia.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17.

(2) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 of 14 December 2020 establishing a European Union Recovery Instrument to support the recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis (OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 23).

(3) Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).

(4) Regulation (EU) 2021/240 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 February 2021 establishing a Technical Support Instrument (OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 1).

(5) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget (OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 1).

(6) Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 of 14 December 2020 on the system of own resources of the European Union and repealing Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom (OJ L 424, 15.12.2020, p. 1).

(7) This amount corresponds to the financial allocation after deduction of Estonia’s proportional share of the expenses of Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, calculated in accordance with the methodology of Article 11 of that Regulation.

Top

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 5.10.2021

COM(2021) 625 final

ANNEX

to the

Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision

on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Estonia

{SWD(2021) 285 final}

ANNEX

SECTION 1: REFORMS AND INVESTMENTS UNDER THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN

1.Description of Reforms and Investments

A. COMPONENT 1: Digital transformation of enterprises

The objective of this component of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan is to foster the digital transformation of Estonian companies and their competitiveness, in particular on export markets. It shall provide financial support to companies of all sectors, with a focus on SMEs and micro-enterprises, at different stages of their digital transformation, as well as specific contributions to the adoption and deployment of digital solutions in the construction and road freight transport sectors. Moreover, the component shall address the key issue of digital skills, through awareness-raising of SME managers and support to the upskilling and retraining of specialists in information and communication technologies (ICT).

Actions aimed at supporting the identification of export opportunities and the promotion of Estonian companies abroad shall be carried out in synergy with the activities of Enterprise Estonia.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendations on investment in the digital transition (Country Specific Recommendation 3 in 2020) and on skills shortages (Country Specific Recommendation 2 in 2019).

It is expected that no measure in this component does significant harm to environmental objectives within the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, taking into account the description of the measures and the mitigating steps set out in the recovery and resilience plan in accordance with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

A.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

1.1.Investment: Digital transformation in enterprises

The objective of the measure is to foster the digital transformation of businesses with a particular focus on SMEs and micro-enterprises.

The measure consists in providing financial support to SMEs and micro-enterprises located in Estonia from all sectors for activities and investments relevant to their digital transformation. This financial support, which shall be complemented with the companies’ own resources, shall cover one or several of the following aspects:

-the adoption of digital technologies,

-the development of industrial data clouds,

-industrial research, development, testing and piloting activities,

-feasibility studies, advisory and support services,

-training of staff.

The funding shall be allocated through open calls for proposals.

In order to ensure that the measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), the eligibility criteria contained in terms of reference for the calls for proposals shall exclude the following list of activities: (i) activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 1 ; (ii) activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 2 ; (iii) activities related to waste landfills, incinerators 3 and mechanical biological treatment plants 4 ; and (iv) activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment. The terms of reference shall additionally require that only activities that comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation may be selected.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

1.2.Investment: Development of e-construction

The objective of the measure is to contribute to the acceleration of the digital transformation of the construction sector in order to increase its productivity, reduce its environmental footprint and improve the quality of buildings. This investment is also expected to foster a wider and more efficient sharing of data among stakeholders.

The measure consists of three different strands:

(I)the development of software interfaces between the national e-construction platform (which is being developed under the responsibility of the Construction and Housing Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications) and existing public and private information systems used in the sector, in order to, inter alia, automate the verifications of the compliance of buildings with various regulatory requirements, as well as the delivery of certificates and authorisations; this includes the training of users of the e-construction platform (including the development of training material);

(II)the support to the introduction of international standards and best practices in relation to the digitalisation of construction and building maintenance, including through the introduction of a construction data classification system, the creation of a database on construction materials and construction products, the introduction of BIM (Building Information Modelling) in the field of property maintenance;

(III) the support to projects (selected through open calls for proposals) aiming at implementing digital construction tools and developing (also prototyping) innovative private and public services connected to the national e-construction platform.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

1.3.Investment: Development of digital waybills services

The objective of the measure is to support the digitalisation of the exchange of information in road freight transport through the introduction of digital waybills, in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 on electronic freight transport information (eFTI), thus contributing to the smooth functioning of the internal market.

The measure consists in supporting:

(I)service providers in the establishment of eFTI platforms to enable the deployment of digital waybills (eCMR - electronic Consignment Note),

(II)transport and logistics enterprises in the interfacing of their systems and processes with the eFTI platforms, enabling them to use digital waybills (eCMR).

The corresponding projects shall be selected through two distinct calls for proposals.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

1.4.Reform: Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses

The objective of the reform is to contribute to strengthening the capacity of businesses at management level to steer and foster the digital transition, as well as to ensuring the availability of sufficient ICT professionals possessing up-to-date skills and knowledge, so that Estonian companies can fully seize the opportunities offered by the digital transition. It also aims at offering new career opportunities to both employed and unemployed people through upskilling and retraining in ICT, as well as through a better recognition of skills acquired outside formal learning. The measure also aims to contribute to increasing the participation of women in ICT training and ICT professions.

The measure consists of the four following strands:

(I)the training of managers in companies (SMEs in particular), in order to increase their ICT skills and knowledge, and raise their awareness about the potential gains from the use of ICT,

(II)a revision of the content and organisation of the training of ICT experts, taking into account the latest technological developments, the growing importance of cybersecurity and the needs of companies,

(III) a pilot for the redesign of the qualification framework for ICT specialists,

(IV) the upskilling and retraining of ICT specialists, including in cybersecurity.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

1.5.Reform: Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets

The objective of the measure is to increase the export capacity and competitiveness of Estonian companies, including notably those of the ICT sector. The measure is expected to be particularly relevant for SMEs. It shall also take advantage of the possibilities offered by digital tools.

The measure consists of three sub-measures:

(I)the development of export strategies aimed at specific countries or regions;

(II)the establishment of business centres located in key export markets;

(III) the promotion of Estonian products and services (from the ICT sector in particular) through physical, virtual or hybrid missions and events.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

1.5.1.Sub-reform: Country and regional strategies

This sub-reform consists in the development of a series of comprehensive export strategies addressing key target countries and regions, i.e. those which represent a high growth potential for Estonian companies. They shall include specific chapters on export opportunities for the ICT sector and, more broadly, digital solutions developed in different application areas (such as governance, education or transport).

These strategies aim at providing advice to companies entering or already operating in the concerned markets.

The countries and regions to be addressed by the strategies shall be identified through an analysis to be carried out as part of the implementation of this sub-measure.

The implementation of this measure shall be carried out in synergy with the activities of Enterprise Estonia, among other partners.

1.5.2.Sub-reform: Innovative business centres in key export markets

This sub-reform consists in establishing business centres in seven foreign countries (inside and/or outside the Union) considered as important export markets. These business centres shall contain suitable equipment for physical, virtual as well as hybrid meetings, receptions and presentations which will be organised by Estonian enterprises across all sectors targeting the particular market. That equipment can also be used outside events, for introduction to any potential client of a cluster or a particular enterprise in Estonia. The business centres shall contribute to the promotion of Estonian companies, support them locally in their export activities, and help attract foreign investors. The activities of the business centres shall be carried out in synergy with the activities of Enterprise Estonia, among other partners.

The location of the business centres shall be identified after an analysis to be carried out as part of the implementation of this sub-measure.

1.5.3.Sub-reform: Global e-export impact groups and virtual stages

This sub-reform consists in setting up groups of representatives of both public authorities and other stakeholders, including notably private companies, and supporting the promotion of Estonian products and services (from the ICT sector in particular) by these groups, through missions and participation in physical, virtual or hybrid events.

The implementation of this sub-reform also includes the reinforcement of the promotion of Estonian products and services at major events with the use of digital tools. The so-called ‘virtual stages’ shall create more opportunities of participation for Estonian stakeholders and showcase Estonian digital solutions. These ‘virtual stages’ shall consist of technical solutions combining physical and digital elements to enable either an export-related event in Estonia to reach global audiences, or Estonian exporters to participate in global events organised abroad.

The implementation of this measure shall be carried out in synergy with the activities of Enterprise Estonia, among other partners.

A.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Quantitative indicators (for targets)			Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
					Unit of measure	Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
1	1.1 Digital transformation in enterprises	Milestone	Call for proposals with award criteria and award conditions	Publication of the notice of the call for proposals				Q2	2022	A call for proposals to support the digital transformation of businesses, together with the award criteria, shall be published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The evaluation criteria and the conditions for granting support shall be defined on the basis of an analysis of the needs of Estonian companies and the expected impact of the measure. Eligibility criteria shall also ensure that the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) through the use of an exclusion list and the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation.
2	1.1 Digital transformation in enterprises	Target	Award of grants		Number of enterprises being awarded a grant	0	110	Q4	2023	Number of enterprises to which grants shall be awarded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to support their digital transformation in accordance with the call for proposals.
3	1.1 Digital transformation in enterprises	Target	Award of grants		Number of enterprises being awarded a grant	110	230	Q4	2025	Number of enterprises to which grants shall be awarded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to support their digital transformation in accordance with the call for proposals.
4	1.2 Development of e-construction	Milestone	Adoption of international standards and best practices for the use of digital technologies in construction	Adoption of international standards and best practices				Q4	2024	The work on the adoption of international standards and best practices for the use of digital technologies in construction and the management of buildings shall be led and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, with the introduction of a construction data classification system, the creation of a publicly available database for construction materials and construction products and the introduction of building information modelling in the field of property maintenance.
5	1.2 Development of e-construction	Milestone	Availability of public services on the e-construction platform	Entry into service of interfaces between the e-construction platform and the related public services				Q4	2025	The public services provided for in the e-construction development plan shall be developed, operational and made public on the e-construction platform. Training material shall also be made available to users. This includes services related to the built environment – such as building and planning permits, building registry (logbook), and the renovation passport.
6	1.2 Development of e-construction	Target	Completion of development and prototyping projects		Number of projects completed	0	120	Q4	2025	Number of completed projects for development and/or implementation of digital construction tools and prototypes of innovative digital solutions drawing on the e-construction platform.
7	1.3 Development of digital waybills services	Target	eFTI (electronic Freight Transport Information) platforms development		Number of projects launched	0	5	Q2	2023	Number of projects developing an eFTI platform which have received a positive grant decision.
8	1.3 Development of digital waybills services	Target	eCMR (electronic Consignment Note) interface developments		Number of projects launched	0	270	Q4	2024	Number of projects enabling transport and logistics operators to be connected to eFTI platforms and use eCMR which have received a positive grant decision.
9	1.3 Development of digital waybills services	Target	Total number of projects completed		Number of projects completed	0	275	Q4	2025	Number of eFTI and eCMR projects completed, contributing to the deployment of digital waybills.
10	1.3 Development of digital waybills services	Milestone	Ex-post evaluation of the development and deployment of the digital waybills	Adoption of ex-post evaluation report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications				Q2	2026	An external body shall analyse the impact of the support measure on the road freight transport sector and deliver an evaluation report, which shall be adopted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
11	1.4 Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Milestone	Entry into force of secondary legislation setting out the terms of support for the development of digital skills	Entry into force of secondary legislation				Q2	2022	The secondary legislation necessary for the application and allocation of support shall enter into force. The conditions for support shall be established through a ministerial decree, which shall be coordinated with the Ministry of Finance and the State Shared Service Centre. The ministerial decree shall consist of the following elements: - objective of the measure, - description of supported activities, - beneficiaries and target groups, - conditions for implementation, - eligible costs and used simplifications , - conditions for payments, - conditions for reporting and monitoring.
12	1.4 Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Enrolment in training activities		Number of participants	0	500	Q4	2023	Number of people enrolled in training activities supported under this measure, consisting of awareness-raising for SME managers, and upskilling and retraining for ICT specialists. A minimum of 35% of participants enrolled in these training activities shall be women.
13	1.4 Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Completion of training activities		Number of participants	0	2000	Q2	2026	Number of people having completed their training course through the training activities supported under this measure, including awareness-raising for SME managers, and upskilling and retraining for ICT specialists. A minimum of 35% of participants having completed these training activities shall be women.
14	1.4 Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Number of new upskilling and retraining modules		Number of curricula registered in Estonia’sEducation Information System (EHIS).	0	5	Q4	2023	Number of upskilling and retraining modules developed with detailed training content, structure and training materials to provide training related to digital skills. New curricula developed for these modules shall be registered in Estonia’s Education Information System (EHIS).
15	1.4 Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Review of qualification standards for ICT specialists.		Number of qualification standards analysed and adapted as and if needed	0	5	Q4	2024	Number of established qualification standards for ICT specialists from the national register of qualification standards which have been analysed and adapted as and if needed.
16	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.1 Country and regional strategies	Milestone	Preparation of the development of strategies	Completion of preparatory tasks				Q2	2022	The preparatory tasks needed to draw up export strategies shall be completed. These tasks include: - an analysis of which external markets are important to develop strategies, - an analysis of the interests of businesses, - a mapping of the needs of exporting enterprises to increase their competitiveness on export markets, the ranking of the needs.
17	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.1 Country and regional strategies	Milestone	Procurement of studies	Signature of contracts				Q2	2024	Tenders for drawing up strategies and product packages with a view to obtaining detailed market information on foreign markets shall be carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The corresponding contracts shall be signed.
18	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.1 Country and regional strategies	Target	Number of country and regional export strategies		Number of strategies published	0	13	Q2	2026	Number of national and/or regional export strategies which shall be developed. These strategies shall contain comprehensive analyses and provide pro-active smart advice for companies entering and operating in foreign markets.
19	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.2 Innovative business centres in key export markets	Milestone	Preparatory analysis to define the content and the locations of business centres	Delivery of a preparatory analysis				Q2	2022	A preparatory analysis allowing the definition of the content and the locations of the business centres shall be prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The analysis shall reveal where to set up business centres to increase demand for Estonian-made products and services in export markets.
20	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.2 Innovative business centres in key export markets	Target	Number of business centres opened		Number of business centres	0	7	Q2	2026	Number of business centres opened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support companies in entering and operating in important export markets, as well as to help them to promote Estonian-made products and services in a way that takes into account the specificities of local business environment and culture.
21	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.3 Global e-export impact groups and virtual stages	Milestone	Setting-up of impact groups and selection of destinations for global digital missions	Decisions on the composition of the impact groups and the destinations of the global digital missions				Q2	2022	Based on an analysis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall select global digital mission destinations and impact groups to increase the added value of Estonian digital services exports, increase the export capacity of Estonian companies, among which ICT companies in particular, and attract additional foreign investments for innovation.
22	1.5 Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets 1.5.3 Global e-export impact groups and virtual stages	Target	Number of missions carried out by the global impact groups and number of major events in which Estonia was represented through ‘virtual stages’		Total of number of missions and events carried out	0	29	Q2	2026	At least 14 missions shall be carried out by the global impact groups set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to increase the added value of Estonian digital services exports, increase the export capacity of Estonian companies, among which ICT companies in particular, and attract additional foreign investments for innovation. Estonia shall be represented through ‘virtual stages’ in at least 15 events.

B. COMPONENT 2: Accelerating the green transition in enterprises

B.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

The objective of the component of the Estonian recover and resilience plan is to speed up the green transition in the business sector in Estonia and to seize the business opportunities it represents. The component consists of two reforms and six investments and aims to support the development of green technologies, increase green R&D and innovation capabilities and resource efficiency, introduce new business models and improve skills and expertise in fields related to the green transition. The measures under this component aim for a comprehensive approach to the green transition addressing key market failures and facilitating the technological and behavioural break-through to increase the competitiveness of the business sector. The measures also support further development of the capital market and business environment.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendations on supporting the innovation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises and focussing investment on the green transition, ensuring sufficient access to finance (Country Specific Recommendation 3 in 2020), and on skills shortages (Country Specific Recommendation 2 in 2019).

2.1.Reform: Green transition of enterprises

The objective of the reform is to improve the green transition in the business sector, which is expected to have economic, environmental and social benefits by making existing businesses more efficient and environmentally friendly (resource efficiency, new green transition certificates and market authorisations for products) and by supporting the emergence of new green technology companies (development and deployment of green technologies, new opportunities for the valorisation of bio-resources).

The reform shall consist of the set-up of a broad-based Green Transition Task Force to foster cooperation between the green technology stakeholders and the adoption of legislation necessary for the implementation of the five complementary investments: 1. Green skills to support the green transition of companies; 2. Green technology development programmes; 3 Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies; 4. Deployment of resource efficient green technologies; and 5. Green Fund.

The reform is interlinked with Component 1 as digitalisation and automation are contributing to the development of green technologies and green transition in the business sector.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 December 2022.

2.2.Investment: Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises

The objective of the investment is to ensure the availability of high-quality expertise to implement the green transition in enterprises. The investment consists of the introduction of up-to-date upskilling and retraining programmes for adults and the modernisation of study programmes in higher and vocational education, as well as the development and piloting more flexible training programmes offering micro credentials, taking into account future needs of the green economy.

Green skills are defined as skills needed for jobs that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy and resource efficiency and include a wider introduction of circular economy principles. In cooperation with stakeholders, professional standards and skills profiles shall be updated and, where appropriate, new profiles shall be developed, specifying the expected learning outcomes and selecting specific areas with the greatest impact on the green transition. Retraining opportunities shall be provided to people working in sectors already affected by the green transition (energy, transport, waste management; new industries and sectors with a potential for creation of jobs stemming from or linked to the green transition) and to those wishing to change their career.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

2.3.Investment: Green technology development programmes

The investment aims to contribute to the green transition of the companies by fostering the development and spreading of innovative green technologies. The investment is expected to increase the number of research-intensive green technology companies in the market and support the start-up ecosystem. The investment consists of support to start-ups and development clusters with a focus on integrated green technology solutions through various development services (including accelerators, incubation, business development, prototype development, piloting) and improvement of the cooperation between different types of organisations and actors that are already active on the market (academia, businesses, other stakeholders).

The focus of the investment shall be on energy and resource efficiency, promoting the circular economy, new business models, digitalisation and automation. The projects supported under the investment shall contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resource productivity in Estonia.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

2.4.Investment: Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies

The objective of the investment is to support the change of business models in manufacturing to ensure the compliance of Estonian products with environmental and climate objectives, including with circular economy principles, and raise competitiveness of manufacturing companies. The measure shall support projects modernising the business models of manufacturing companies related to climate and environmental objectives. The projects shall be selected on the basis of a call for proposals.

In order to ensure that the measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), the eligibility criteria contained in terms of reference for the call for proposals shall exclude the following list of activities: (i) activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 5 ; (ii) activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 6 ; (iii) activities related to waste landfills, incinerators 7 and mechanical biological treatment plants 8 ; and (iv) activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment. The terms of reference shall additionally require that only activities that comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation may be selected.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

2.5.Investment: Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies

The objective of the investment is to improve the resource efficiency of companies, including energy efficiency, with a particular focus on the valorisation of underutilised bio-resources such as residues and by-products. The investment aims to support innovation in production technology and product development in enterprises and contributes to circular economy solutions.

The measure shall support two kinds of investments:

-promoting resource-efficient green technologies for industrial plants;

-valorisation of bio-resources.

The projects shall be selected on the basis of a call for proposals. The main criteria for selecting projects to receive a grant shall include, according to relevance, efficiency in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resource efficiency, cost-effectiveness, reducing of residues and waste generation, added value to bio-resources and innovativeness of the solutions to be developed.

In order to ensure that the measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), the eligibility criteria contained in terms of reference for the call for proposals shall exclude the following list of activities: (i) activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 9 ; (ii) activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 10 ; (iii) activities related to waste landfills, incinerators 11 and mechanical biological treatment plants 12 ; and (iv) activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment. The terms of reference shall additionally require that only activities that comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation may be selected.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

2.6.Investment: Green Fund

The objective of the investment is to provide capital for the development of new green technologies in strategic areas such as energy, agriculture, food industry, transport and logistics, materials and chemical industries. The Green Fund shall provide funding for companies and sectors whose products, services or processes are characterised by research-intensive green technologies and whose activities contribute to solving environmental problems, developing new products, services or technologies that reduce or capture greenhouse gas emissions or are driven by eco-design requirements. Investments shall be made in sustainable projects, taking into account the EU Taxonomy Regulation.

The measure shall be implemented as a financial instrument as part of a broader green technology investment programme that provides equity investments to companies in the form of direct equity investments and through venture capital funds, managed by the public fund manager SmartCap.

The measure shall comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01). The legal agreement signed between Estonia and SmartCap and the subsequent investment policy of the Green Fund shall:

I.require the application of the Commission’s technical guidance on sustainability proofing for the InvestEU Fund; and

II.require companies that derived more than 50% of their revenues during the preceding financial year from the following activities and/or assets to adopt and publish green transition plans: (i) activities and assets related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 13 ; (ii) activities and assets under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 14 ; (iii) activities and assets related to waste landfills, incinerators 15 and mechanical biological treatment plants 16 ; and (iv) activities and assets where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment; and

III.require the verification of legal compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation of the beneficiary by SmartCap for all transactions, including those exempted from sustainability proofing.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

2.7.Investment: Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies

The objective of the investment is to support the deployment and piloting of hydrogen integrated value chains from energy production and supply solutions to final consumption in different application areas.

The projects to be supported shall be selected following a call for proposals. The call for proposals is open for projects from all economic sectors. The electricity used to produce hydrogen must be produced from renewable energy and the consumption of green hydrogen shall take place in Estonia.

In order to ensure that the measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), the eligibility criteria contained in terms of reference for the call for proposals shall exclude the following list of activities: (i) activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 17 ; (ii) activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 18 ; (iii) activities related to waste landfills, incinerators 19 and mechanical biological treatment plants 20 ; and (iv) activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment. The terms of reference shall additionally require that only activities that comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation may be selected.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

B.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Unit of measure	Quantitative indicators (for targets)		Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
						Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
23	2.1 Green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Creation of a Green Transition Task Force to implement and monitor the green transition	Set up of a task force and working groups			<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<	Q4	2021	The Ministry of the Environment shall reform the existing Working Group on Green Technology (set up in 2020) into the RRP’s Green Transition Task Force to coordinate the measures on the green transition of companies, and improve cooperation and exchange of information among the public sector, stakeholders and interest groups. The necessary working groups shall be set up for specific measures.
24	2.1 Green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Adoption of the Circular Economy Action Plan by the Green Transition Task Force	Circular Economy Action Plan adopted				Q4	2022	The Green Transition Task Force shall review the existing Circular Economy activities and different action plans into a single Circular Economy Action Plan that will lead the Estonian transition to Circular Economy.
25	2.2 Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Entry into force of secondary legislation setting out the terms of support for the development of green skills	Entry into force of secondary legislation				Q2	2022	The secondary legislation necessary for the application and allocation of support shall enter into force. It shall contain provisions ensuring that any action supported under this measure is focused on areas contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or the adaptation to climate change.
26	2.2 Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Target	Number of upskilling and retraining modules		Number of modules	0	5	Q4	2023	Number of upskilling and retraining modules developed including detailed training content, structure and training materials to provide training related to green skills.
27	2.2 Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Target	People taking part in upskilling and retraining programmes		Number of participants	0	2830	Q2	2026	Number of people having completed one of the training courses supported through this measure.
28	2.3 Green technologies development programme	Milestone	Establishment of a working group to plan and set up the development programme	Recruitment of a project manager and set up of a working group				Q4	2021	A project manager shall be recruited and a broad-based group of stakeholders shall be set up to coordinate investment planning and implementation. The role of the project manager shall be set out to gather information from market participants and design the necessary support measures and procurement. The working group shall be composed of parties involved in the development of entrepreneurship and shall undertake to meet at least three times a year to take stock of developments in investment-related activities and provide recommendations for further action. The working group shall draw up provisions related to the selection of actions to be supported under the development programme in such a way that it is ensured that each action directly contributes either to lowering greenhouse gas emissions or supporting adaptation to climate change.
29	2.3 Green technologies development programme	Milestone	Set up of the Green Technologies Development Programme	Contracts signed for all development clusters and support measures designed and opened				Q2	2024	The public procurement processes for at least 5 development clusters shall be completed and the contracts shall be awarded to the winning parties. Support measures shall be designed and their first rounds shall be opened to at least 10 start-ups. The selection processes shall ensure that each supported action directly contributes either to lowering greenhouse gas emissions or supporting adaptation to climate change.
30	2.3 Green technologies development programme	Target	Number of clusters supported through the Green Technology Development Programme		Number of clusters	0	5	Q2	2026	Number of clusters supported by the development programme.
31	2.3 Green technologies development programme	Target	Number of start-ups supported through the Green Technology Development Programme and which have received private investment		Number of start-ups	0	10	Q2	2026	Number of start-ups supported by the development programme and which have received resources from private investors during or after the development programme.
32	2.4 Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies	Milestone	Entry into force of the ministerial decree setting out the terms and conditions of grant eligibility	Entry into force of the ministerial decree				Q2	2022	The conditions for granting support shall be enacted by a decree of the responsible minister. The requirements set shall include eligibility criteria to ensure that the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) by means of an exclusion list and compliance with relevant EU and national environmental legislation. The selection/eligibility criteria shall specify that the supported activities and/or enterprises contribute to a climate-neutral economy, resilience and climate change adaptation including circular economy objectives such as in-house implementation of circular economy principles, transfer of transport and storage of companies to new foundations.
33	2.4 Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies	Target	Number of projects supported		Number of projects	0	70	Q4	2025	Projects having received a grant disbursement in accordance with the eligibility conditions set out in the call for proposals to introduce business models that support the transition to a climate-neutral economy, resilience and adaptation to climate change, including circular economy objectives.
34	2.5 Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Milestone	Publication of call for proposals for grants	Publication of the notice for calls for proposals for grants				Q2	2022	Call for proposals to support resource-efficient green technologies and the valorisation of bio-resources shall be published and open for applications, including eligibility criteria to ensure that the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) by means of an exclusion list and compliance with relevant EU and national environmental legislation. The selection/eligibility criteria shall specify that the supported activities and/or enterprises contribute to a climate-neutral economy, resilience and climate change adaptation
35	2.5 Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Target	Number of contracts awarded following the call for proposals		Contracts awarded	0	25	Q4	2023	Award of the contracts to at least 25 projects selected under the competitive call for proposals, for green technologies for industrial plants and for valorisation of bio-resources, in compliance with the terms of reference
36	2.5 Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Target	Number of projects completed		Number of projects	0	25	Q2	2026	Number of completed projects to improve resource efficiency through the enhancement of green technologies and bio-resources, on the basis of calls for proposals and established eligibility criteria.
37	2.6 Green Fund	Milestone	Signature of contractual agreement between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and SmartCap	Signature of contractual agreement				Q4	2021	A contractual agreement shall be signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and SmartCap to manage the Green Fund, which shall contain: - Investment objectives to invest in enterprises and activities contributing to a climate-neutral economy and to improving resilience to climate change, including awareness-raising measures, - Eligibility criteria for compliance with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) of supported beneficiaries through the use of sustainability proofing, an exclusion list and the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation.
38	2.6 Green Fund	Milestone	Adoption of the investment policy document by SmartCap	Investment policy document adopted by SmartCap				Q4	2021	SmartCap shall adopt the investment policy for the Green Fund, in line with the contractual agreement signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and SmartCap, including the investment objectives and the eligibility criteria to ensure compliance with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) of supported beneficiaries under this measure through the use of sustainability proofing, the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation, and the requirement for beneficiaries that derived more than 50% of their revenues during the preceding financial year from activities or assets in the exclusion list to adopt and publish green transition plans.
39	2.6 Green Fund	Target	Volume of investments in venture capital funds or equity investments in enterprises		Volume of invested capital (in EUR)	0	60 000 000	Q4	2024	At least EUR 60 million shall be invested by the Green Fund in venture capital funds or enterprises in line with the investment policy.
40	2.6 Green Fund	Target	Volume of investments in venture capital funds or equity investments in enterprises		Volume of invested capital (in EUR)	60 000 000	100 000 000	Q2	2026	At least EUR 100 million shall be invested by the Green Fund in venture capital funds or enterprises in line with the investment policy.
41	2.7 Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Milestone	Entry into force of the ministerial decree setting out the terms and conditions for granting support	Entry into force of the ministerial decree				Q4	2022	Development of project selection criteria, and entry into force of the ministerial decree on the conditions for granting support for projects related to integrated green hydrogen technologies. The terms of reference for this support shall include eligibility criteria that ensure that the objectives of the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) through the use of an exclusion list and the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation.
42	2.7 Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Milestone	Technologies and equipment to create complete green hydrogen value chains	Procurement, installation and start of operation of technologies and equipment				Q1	2025	The necessary equipment for green hydrogen production shall be purchased, installed and put in operation by project promoters selected in the call for proposals.
43	2.7 Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Target	Grants allocated to renewables-based green hydrogen technologies representing at least EUR 49.49 million		EUR	0	49 490 000	Q2	2026	Grants shall be allocated to investments in renewables based green hydrogen technologies in line with the investment policy, representing at least EUR 49.49 million

C. COMPONENT 3: Digital State

Building on the successful deployment of digital technologies for the delivery of public services in Estonia over the last years, this component of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan aims at upgrading the digital government services further, in particular in terms of user-centricity and resilience (including in light of the growing cybersecurity threats). The component features measures allowing to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the latest technologies, especially artificial intelligence, but also significant redesigns of both front-end and back-end services. They shall benefit both citizens and businesses. Specific actions are foreseen in order to reinforce the country’s capacities to combat money laundering. The support to the deployment of very high capacity networks in rural areas is also expected to ensure wider access to online services and, more generally, contribute to the further digital transformation of the country.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendations on investment in the digital transition (Country Specific Recommendation 3 in 2020) and on the anti-money laundering framework (Country Specific Recommendation 1 in 2019 and Country Specific Recommendation 4 in 2020).

C.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

3.1.Reform: Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data

The objective of the measure is to foster a better management of the data collected and held by the Estonian public authorities. It aims at improving the quality of the data, increase its use for decision-making as well as its availability as open data, so that it may also be reused by other stakeholders.

The measure consists of:

-the creation of a centre of excellence within Statistics Estonia (the Estonian government agency responsible for producing official statistics) to coordinate and support the development of data governance in other public authorities,

-the development of data governance and data sharing tools/information systems,

-the implementation of projects aiming at improving the quality of data held by public authorities and increasing the availability of open data.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

3.2.Reform: Development of event services and proactive digital public services for individuals

The objective of the measure is to improve the efficiency of the delivery of public services and reduce the administrative burden for citizens.

The measure consists in redesigning a series of public services (and the underlying IT systems) in order to enable their automatic and proactive delivery on the basis of life or business events experienced by citizens (such as a marriage, the birth of a child or the creation of an enterprise). It shall notably allow a better integration of IT systems across different public authorities and contribute to the implementation of the once-only principle.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

3.3.Reform: Development of event services and digital gateway for entrepreneurs

The objectives of the measure are to improve the efficiency and the quality of the delivery of public services and reduce the administrative burden for entrepreneurs.

The measure consists in establishing one digital gateway for the delivery of public services to entrepreneurs and redesigning a series of services (and the underlying IT systems) in order to interface them with the gateway, supporting the user-friendliness of services, the implementation of the once-only principle and, whenever possible, enabling the proactive delivery of information based on events experienced by businesses.

It shall take into account the solutions developed in the context of the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 establishing a single digital gateway to provide information, procedures, assistance and problem solving services.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

3.4.Investment: #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)

The objective of the measure is to improve the user-friendliness and accessibility of public services in Estonia.

The measure consists in developing a speech- and text-based AI virtual assistant for the access to online public services. The work shall build on pilot projects already carried out in 2020 and 2021.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

3.5.Investment: Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure

The objective of the measure is to increase the resilience, the security and the reliability of the IT systems and services of the Estonian public authorities through their migration to a private cloud and through comprehensive security testing.

The measure consists of the following elements:

-the creation of a new public body in charge of the central management of the IT basic services and infrastructures of public institutions,

-The establishment of new security testing capability within the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA),

-the procurement of private cloud infrastructure resources,

-the migration of existing information systems to the private cloud,

-the comprehensive testing of the security of new cloud-based information systems used by public authorities, as well as of existing information systems,

-the development of the capacity of the data embassy (i.e. IT hosting capacities established abroad to ensure the continuity of the availability of critical databases in case of disaster), building on the pilot project carried out between 2017 and 2020 in Luxembourg,

-the extension of the private cloud to the data embassy, so that systems migrated to the cloud may also be hosted in and operated from the data embassy,

-the migration of critical systems to the data embassy infrastructure.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2024.

3.6.Reform: Establishing the strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing in Estonia

The objective of the reform is to strengthen the capacity of the Financial Intelligence Unit to identify money laundering schemes and channels at an early stage.

The measure consists in establishing a Centre for Strategic Analysis within the Financial Intelligence Unit. This Centre for Strategic Analysis is expected to allow more operational and more efficient prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing. The team of the Centre for Strategic Analysis shall notably be in charge of developing specifications for a new IT tool drawing on data available from different sources. The Centre for Strategic Analysis might also identify necessary legislative changes.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2024.

3.7.Investment: Information system for real-time strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing

Building on the analysis carried out as part of the implementation of the reform 3.6, the investment aims at providing the Financial Intelligence Unit with a new dedicated IT system enabling the exploitation of data available from different authorities and the identification of possible money laundering schemes and channels in real time. The measure consists in developing the new IT system.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

3.8.Investment: Construction of very high capacity broadband networks

The objective of the investment is to improve the access to very high capacity broadband networks (VHCN), which offer a connection of at least 100 Mbps, for households and socio-economically important institutions such as hospitals, schools, public services and businesses.

The measure consists in providing financial support to the deployment of very high capacity broadband networks in areas of market failure (in accordance with provisions of Article 52 of the Commission Regulation 651/2014). The eligibility and selection criteria used to allocate the funding shall ensure an appropriate regional balance.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

C.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Quantitative indicators (for targets)			Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
					Unit of measure	Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
44	3.1 Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Milestone	Setting up a data management team in the Statistical Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the State Information System Authority	Establishment of the necessary organisational structure for coordinating data management				Q4	2021	Creation of a Data Management Team in Statistics Estonia through the recruitment of expert staff tasked with coordinating the data governance framework and supporting other public authorities. In addition, posts shall be created at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and at the State Information System Agency to carry out development projects. By the end of 2021, at least five people shall be recruited across the three entities.
45	3.1 Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Target	Completion of data quality improvement projects		Number of projects	0	430	Q2	2025	Number of completed projects contributing to ensuring an improved reusability of data from public institutions, with up-to-date and accurate descriptions of databases and datasets.
46	3.1 Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Target	Publication of datasets on the national open data portal		Number of published datasets	707	2600	Q4	2025	The number of datasets made public on the National Open Data Portal and thus available from the EU Open Data portal shall be increased from 707 on 13 August 2021 to 2600.
47	3.2 Development of event services and proactive digital public services for individuals	Target	Launch of personal life event services and/or pro-active services		Number of services which are operational	0	2	Q4	2022	Number of citizen life event services and/or proactive services launched online. The corresponding IT solutions enabling the provision of the services shall be operational at least in the basic parts of a given service and are subject to a further development during the implementation of the measure. The selection of concerned services shall be based on the development plan for personal life event and proactive services.
48	3.2 Development of event services and proactive digital public services for individuals	Target	Launch of personal life event services and/or pro-active services		Number of services which are operational	2	10	Q4	2025	Number of citizen life event services and/or proactive services launched online. The corresponding IT solutions enabling the provision of the services shall be operational at least in the basic parts of a given service and are subject to a further development during the implementation of the measure. The selection of concerned services shall be based on the development plan for personal life event and proactive services.
49	3.3 Development of event services and digital gateway for entrepreneurs	Target	Deployment of IT developments contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway		Number of projects that have successfully deployed new developments online	0	1	Q4	2022	Number of IT development projects contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway that have successfully deployed new developments online. These development projects shall be either directly related to the development of the digital gateway for entrepreneurs or to the development of business-event services, which additionally include the development of various related systems for interfacing with the digital gateway. As a result of each development project, at least a minimally functional IT solution shall be completed (i.e., the IT solution shall be operational at least in the basic parts for the end users (entrepreneurs) and shall be able to provide feedback for further development needs during the reform implementation period or afterwards).
50	3.3 Development of event services and digital gateway for entrepreneurs	Target	Deployment of IT developments contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway		Number of projects that have successfully deployed new developments online	1	10	Q4	2025	Number of IT development projects contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway that have successfully deployed new developments online. These development projects shall be either directly related to the development of the digital gateway for entrepreneurs or to the development of business-event services, which additionally include the development of various related systems for interfacing with the digital gateway. As a result of each development project, at least a minimally functional IT solution shall be completed (i.e., the IT solution shall be operational at least in the basic parts for the end users (entrepreneurs) and shall be able to provide feedback for further development needs during the reform implementation period or afterwards).
51	3.4 #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Access to digital public services through the virtual assistant platform		Number of public digital services accessible through the virtual assistant	0	1	Q2	2022	Number of digital public services available through the platform of the virtual assistant.
52	3.4 #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Introduction of the Bürokratt virtual assistant in digital public services environments		Number of service environments	0	18	Q4	2025	Number of service environments in which the virtual assistant shall be operational. A “service environment” refers to a website of public authorities.
53	3.4 #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Access to digital public services through the virtual assistant platform		Number of public digital services accessible through the virtual assistant	1	20	Q4	2025	Number of digital public services available through the platform of the virtual assistant.
54	3.5 Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Milestone	Development of centrally delivered/shared IT base services	Opening of shared server hosting and computer workstation services to public authorities				Q3	2022	Basic IT services provided/shared centrally shall open for subscription by new users (ministries and other authorities).
55	3.5 Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Deployment of national private cloud infrastructure by public authorities		Number of information systems migrated to the national private cloud	0	10	Q4	2023	Number of information systems for which the migration to the private cloud infrastructure shall be completed.
56	3.5 Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Milestone	Extension of the cloud infrastructure to the data embassy	Completion of the extension of the national private cloud to the infrastructure of Estonia’s data embassy				Q4	2023	It shall become possible to host and operate information systems migrated to the private cloud from the data embassy. New hardware and licenses shall be acquired and set up for this purpose.
57	3.5 Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Migration of critical systems to the national cloud infrastructure of the data embassy		Number of critical systems	0	10	Q4	2024	Number of critical systems migrated to the National Cloud Data Embassy infrastructure and platform. Critical systems are systems that are vital to the state's sustainability.
58	3.5 Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Central security testing of public authorities’ information systems		Number of tests performed	0	16	Q4	2024	Number of comprehensive security tests carried out by the Information System Authority – the test results shall be summarised in reports.
59	3.6 Establishing the strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the amendment of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act and of other legislative, administrative and contractual changes needed for the Centre for Strategic Analysis	Provision in the law indicating the date of entry into force of amended act and entry into force of other legislative, administrative and contractual acts				Q4	2024	The following steps shall be completed to allow the Centre for Strategic Analysis to access and process data relevant to the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing: (1) an amendment of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act shall be published in the Riigi Teataja and enter into force, (2) amendments to the statutes of the relevant national datasets shall enter into force, (3) amendments to the terms and conditions of Financial Intelligence Unit data exchange contracts shall be signed by the contracting parties.
60	3.7 Information system for real-time strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing	Milestone	Development of the new real-time ICT analysis system for the Centre for Strategic Analysis, and delivery to the Financial Intelligence Unit	Delivery of the new ICT system to the Financial Intelligence Unit				Q2	2026	The development of the ICT system allowing real-time analysis to detect and prevent money laundering shall be completed. The system shall be operational and used by the Financial Intelligence Unit.
61	3.8 Construction of very high capacity broadband networks	Target	Rollout of very high capacity broadband network to new sites		Number of sites	0	4000	Q4	2023	Number of new sites (residential, companies, establishments) covered by VHCN (and which have thus the possibility to get a connection of at least 100 Mbps) thanks to the measure.
62	3.8 Construction of very high capacity broadband networks	Target	Rollout of very high capacity broadband network to new sites		Number of sites	4000	8097	Q4	2025	Number of additional sites (residential, companies, establishments) covered by VHCN (and which have thus the possibility to get a connection of at least 100 Mbps) thanks to the measure.

D. COMPONENT 4: Energy and energy efficiency

This component of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan addresses the challenge of decarbonising the energy sector. The objectives of the component are to reduce the dependency on oil shale, incentivise uptake of renewable energy and improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendation to focus investments on energy infrastructure and on resource and energy efficiency, contributing to the progressive decarbonisation of the economy (Country Specific Recommendation 3 in 2019 and in 2020).

D.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

4.1.Reform: Energy efficiency promotion

The objective of the reform is to reduce the administrative barriers to energy efficient renovations by advising apartment associations, private households and local governments on legislation, technical aspects and financing of renovations. The reform also supports the use of innovative solutions such as renovation using pre-fabricated elements in order to increase renovation capacity and reduce the carbon footprint of the building stock (economising on the materials and ensuring quality). The reform aims to increase renovation rates in areas with lower property value.

The measure consists of setting up a regional advisory network and training of technical consultants in order to provide the necessary information and incentivise renovations. Access to information related to energy-efficient renovations shall be further ensured by setting up a dedicated website and digital tools facilitating understanding of the renovation result, cost and benefits. The component is linked to a measure on digitalisation of construction data under component 1 of the Estonian Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 December 2024.

4.2.Investment: Support for the renovation of apartment buildings

The objective of the measure is to boost deep renovations of apartment buildings in order to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and improve the living conditions of their residents. The objective is also to increase renovation rates in areas with lower property value.

Support shall be given to apartment associations for renovations that achieve an improvement of at least one energy efficiency class or, in the case of complete renovations, at least the energy efficiency class C. The renovations shall correspond to at least a medium-depth renovation representing an average level of primary energy savings of at least 30%. Differentiated regional support rates shall be applied: 30% in Tallinn and Tartu, 40% in the areas surrounding Tallinn and Tartu based on the real estate price and 50% in all other areas. Outside Tallinn and Tartu, the apartment associations may carry out partial reconstruction work to prevent deterioration of the technical condition of the building, in which case the support rate shall be lower. In addition, as part of its long-term national strategies, Estonia is planning to finance complementary renovation measures from the European Regional Development Fund and the REACT-EU.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

4.3.Investment: Support for the renovation of small residential buildings

The objective of the measure is to boost deep renovations of private dwellings in order to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and improve the living conditions of their residents. The objective is also to increase renovation rates in areas with lower property value.

Support shall be given to private owners for renovations that achieve an improvement of at least one energy efficiency class or, in the case of complete renovations, at least energy label class C, and correspond to at least a medium-depth renovation representing an average level of primary energy savings of at least 30%. Differentiated regional support rates shall be applied: 30% in Tallinn and Tartu, 40% in the areas surrounding Tallinn and Tartu based on the real estate price and 50% in all other areas. For the purpose of the measure, housing (dwelling) is defined as ‘a dwelling or dwellings in a single building or in a separate building intended for a single household to live throughout the year’ (in accordance with Eurostat).

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 December 2024.

4.4.Reform: Boosting the green transition in the energy economy

The aim of this measure is to contribute to decarbonising the energy production and consumption in Estonia by updating targets and actions of Estonian energy policy (including those related to the phase out oil shale) and by removing administrative barriers to renewable energy installations.

The National Development Plan of the Energy Sector shall be updated and shall include targets on renewable energy production, energy efficiency and security of supply. The plan will also include actions to reduce dependency on oil shale in the Estonian energy sector and targets on the phase-out of oil shale in the energy sector altogether.

The reform shall also consist of adopting the necessary legislation and compiling guidance materials for accelerating the installation of renewable electricity production capacity and actions for alleviating the defence-related height restrictions on wind parks.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

4.5.Investment: Programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase renewable energy production capacity and adapt to climate change (such as protection against storms)

The aim of this measure is to contribute to decarbonising the Estonian electricity production by increasing the connection capacities available for renewable energy production.

Under this measure, the transmission system operator’s investments into the transmission grid shall be co-financed with the aim of adding at least 310 MW of additional connection capacity.

The implementation of the measure shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

4.6.Investment: Programme to boost energy production in industrial areas

The measure aims to make the electricity system more effective by incentivising the production of electricity close to consumption. The measure shall incentivise renewable electricity production in or nearby industrial areas through co-financing the necessary grid connection. Under this measure, investments made by companies to connect renewable electricity production capacities into the grid shall be supported through grants. In order to ensure that the measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), the eligibility criteria contained in terms of reference for the calls for projects shall exclude the following list of activities: (i) activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use 21 ; (ii) activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks 22 ; (iii) activities related to waste landfills, incinerators 23 and mechanical biological treatment plants 24 ; and (iv) activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment. The terms of reference shall additionally require that only activities that comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation may be selected.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

4.7.Investment: Pilot Energy Storage Programme

To complement the above measures, the phase-out of oil shale and increased renewable energy production, pilot projects for renewable energy storage shall be supported.

The objective of the measure is to pilot renewable energy storage in Estonia. The knowledge acquired in this pilot project is expected to provide a basis for the future zero-subsidy investments into storage facilities. Under this measure, grants shall be provided to companies investing in renewable energy storage facilities.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

D.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Quantitative indicators (for targets)			Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
					Unit of measure	Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
63	4.1 Energy efficiency promotion	Milestone	Conclusion of the cooperation agreement stipulating conditions for cooperation between SA Kredex/Enterprise Estonia and county development centers	Conclusion of the cooperation agreement between SA KredEx/ Enterpise Estonia and county development centers				Q4	2022	Conclusion of a cooperation agreement by SA KredEx/Enterpise Estonia with county development centers by which in each county of Estonia SA KredEx/Enterpise Estonia shall provide at least one trained specialist in the county development centre who shall provide advice on renovation.
64	4.1 Energy efficiency promotion	Milestone	Digital tools to facilitate access to information on renovation including visualising the results of the renovation and estimating the cost of renovation have become operational	Operational user-friendly renovation website and pricing models				Q4	2024	SA KredEx/Enterprise Estonia shall update the Housing homepage to ensure fast, up-to-date and operational information for those interested in renovation and for applicants. Online digital tools shall be made available to allow parties interested in renovation to visualise the possible outcome and calculate the potential costs with and without support schemes when adding the parameters of their building.
65	4.2 Support for renovation of apartment buildings	Milestone	Publication of calls for applications for residential apartment buildings renovation grants	Publication of calls for housing renovation grants				Q2	2022	SA KredEx/Enterprise Estonia shall publish calls for applications aimed at improving the energy efficiency of residential apartment buildings. The support shall be differentiated between regions on the basis of the value of the real estate, with a higher rate of support in regions with low average property value. Support shall be granted to renovation projects that achieve an improvement of at least one energy efficiency class or, in the case of complete renovations, at least the energy efficiency class C. The renovations shall correspond to at least medium-depth renovations representing an average level of primary energy savings of at least 30% as set out in European Commission Recommendation (EU) 2019/786. The results shall be certified by ex-ante and ex-post Energy Performance Certificates.
66	4.2 Support for renovation of apartment buildings	Target	Dwellings with improved energy performance		Number of dwellings	0	2600	Q4	2024	At least 2 600 dwellings shall be renovated and achieve an improvement of at least one energy efficiency class or, in the case of complete renovations, at least the energy efficiency class C. The renovations shall correspond to at least medium-depth renovations representing an average level of primary energy savings of at least 30% as set out in European Commission Recommendation (EU) 2019/786. The results shall be certified by ex-ante and ex-post Energy Performance Certificates.
67	4.2 Support for renovation of apartment buildings	Target	Estimated annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions	N/A	tons of CO2eq/year	0	2200	Q2	2026	Annual emissions of at least 2 200 tons of CO2 equivalent have been saved. The target shall be measured as the decrease of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a sum of all the renovation projects finished by 2024. The energy efficiency class for each renovated building shall be measured at the latest in 2025; and their annual greenhouse gas emissions estimated on this basis. The baseline shall refer to the estimated greenhouse gas emissions of the building prior to renovation. It shall be assessed if the activities of the support measure have been carried out and all the necessary documents have been submitted by the apartment associations (such as Energy Performance Certificate, audit). The calculation of the GHG emission savings result shall be based on the model of SA Kredex/Enterprise Estonia for energy consumption and other relevant data. The results achieved shall be delivered at the end of the supporting activities.
68	4.3 Support for renovation of small residential buildings	Milestone	Published calls for renovation grant	Publication of calls				Q2	2022	SA KredEx/Enterprise Estonia shall publish calls for applications aimed at improving the energy efficiency of private residential buildings. The support shall be differentiated between regions on the basis of the value of the real estate, with a higher rate of support in regions with low average property value. Support shall be granted to renovation projects that achieve an improvement of energy efficiency or, in the case of complete renovations, at least the energy efficiency class C. The results shall be certified by ex-ante and ex-post SA KredEx Energy Performance calculations.
69	4.3 Support for renovation of small residential buildings	Target	Dwellings with improved energy performance		Number of dwellings	0	80	Q4	2024	At least 80 dwellings shall be renovated, and achieve an improvement of energy efficiency or, in the case of complete renovations, at least the energy efficiency class C. The results shall be certified by ex-ante and ex-post KredEx Energy Performance calculations.
70	4.4 Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Government decision on investments needed to alleviate the defence related height restrictions on wind parks	Adoption of the decision of the Government				Q2	2021	The Government shall adopt a decision on making the necessary investments to alleviate the defence related height restrictions on wind parks.
71	4.4 Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Adoption of the decision of the Government on the initiation of the preparation process of the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector, the designation of those responsible and deadlines	Adoption of the decision of the Government				Q4	2021	Government decision on initiating the preparation process of the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector shall be approved, defining the responsible entity (ies) and setting the relevant deadlines. The development plan shall address, inter alia, the objectives of increasing renewable energy production, energy efficiency and maintaining and improving security of supply, as well as the cessation of the use of oil shale for electricity production in 2035 and the phasing out of shale oil production by 2040.
72	4.4 Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Entry into force of the relevant primary and/or secondary legislation and publication of guidance material to alleviate the barriers for the installation of renewable energy generating installations and energy storage facilities	Provision in the law indicating the entry into force of the relevant primary and/or entry into force of secondary legislation and publication of guidance material				Q4	2024	Guidance materials necessary for facilitating and incentivising the installation of renewable energy generating installations and energy storage facilities shall be published and relevant primary and/or secondary legislation shall enter into force to remove the barriers to installation of renewable energy facilities such as streamlining permitting procedures and other relevant identified barriers.
73	4.4 Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Adoption of the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector by the Government	Document adopted by the Government				Q4	2025	The National Development Plan of the Energy Sector shall be approved by the Government. The plan shall include the actions related to the phase-out of the use of oil shale for electricity production in 2035 and of shale oil production by 2040. It shall also include targets for electricity generation capacity to be replaced with renewable energy.
74	4.5 Programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase renewable energy production capacity and adapt to climate change (such as protection against storms)	Milestone	Signature of network investment co-financing contract with transmission system operator	Signature of a contract with the transmission system operator				Q1	2022	A co-financing agreement for electricity network investments shall be concluded between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and Elering AS. The contract shall set out the expected results and deadlines.
75	4.5 Programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase renewable energy production capacity and adapt to climate change (such as improved resilience against storms)	Target	Additional renewable energy connection capacity created via investments into the transmission network		Additional connection capacity (MW)	0	310	Q2	2026	Increase in the connection capacities for renewable energy installations in the Estonian electricity transmission network by at least 310 MW.
76	4.6 Programme to boost energy production in industrial areas	Milestone	Publication of a call for proposals for projects boosting energy production in industrial sites	Call for proposals published				Q4	2022	An open call shall be published by the Environmental Investment Centre to support the grid connection costs of companies producing electricity from renewable sources in industrial sites. The call shall be based on project selection criteria and award conditions that ensure that the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) through the use of an exclusion list and the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation.
77	4.6 Programme to boost energy production in industrial areas	Target	Additional connection capacity for renewable electricity production in or near industrial sites connected to the grid		Connection capacity created (MW)	0	28	Q2	2026	Additional connection capacity for renewable electricity production in or near industrial sites constructed for at least 28 MW.
78	4.7 Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Milestone	Publication of a call for proposals for a pilot energy storage programme	Call for proposals published				Q4	2022	An open call for proposals shall be published by the Environmental Investment Centre to support pilot energy storage programmes. The call shall be based on project selection criteria and award conditions that ensure that the selected projects comply with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) through the use of an exclusion list and the requirement of compliance with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation. The selection/eligibility criteria shall specify that the supported activities and/or enterprises contribute to climate-neutral economy, climate resilience and climate change adaptation, including circular economy objectives.
79	4.7 Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Target	Additional heat storage capacity resulting from investment support		Capacity installed (m³)	0	35 000	Q2	2026	The investment support scheme shall result in the installation of heat storage of at least 35 000 m³ in district heating systems.
80	4.7 Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Target	Additional electricity storage capacity resulting from investment support		Capacity installed (MW)	0	4 MW	Q2	2026	The investment support scheme shall result in the installation of at least 4 MW of electricity storage capacity.

E. COMPONENT 5: Sustainable transport

The component of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan aims at addressing the challenge of decarbonising the transport sector. The objectives of the component are to reduce emissions and incentivise the uptake of sustainable modes of transport.

The reform and investments of the component support the development of the cross-border Rail Baltic project, connecting the three Baltic capitals and countries with Poland and the rest of the Union. The measures in the component aim at connecting the Rail Baltic with other national railways and other TEN-T hubs (Tallinn Airport and Old Port) and facilitating access to its local stops on foot or by bicycle.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendation to focus investments on resource efficiency and sustainable transport contributing to decarbonisation of the economy (Country Specific Recommendation 3 in 2019 and in 2020).

E.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

5.1.Reform: Deploy safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure

The objective of the reform is to reduce the CO2 emissions of the transport sector and incentivise the uptake of sustainable modes of transport.

The measure consists of adoption and implementation of the new Transport and Mobility Development Plan and the related Implementation Plan. The focus of the Plan is to reduce the environmental footprint of transport systems and it shall include measures to develop interconnected and shared mobility in urban areas at the expense of private cars and promote a comprehensive framework of light mobility (on foot or bicycle) in areas outside major urban centres. The Plan shall include railway investments that shall be directed towards increasing the speed and safety of journeys and adding connections for both passenger and freight transport. The key actions under this Plan to be implemented within the timeline of the Recovery and Resilience Facility include building and extending the electrified railway from Tallinn to Tartu and harmonising the public transport system in the Tallinn capital region (ticketing systems and pricing).

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

5.2.Investment: Construction of a section of the westbound Tallinn-Rohuküla railway

The investment aims to connect by railway the Western region Läänemaa with Tallinn and with the international TEN-T junctions such as Tallinn Airport, the Rail Baltic and ferry connections from Tallinn’s Old Port.

Support shall be given to the national railway infrastructure manager Eesti Raudtee to construct a 15 km section of one-track electrified railway between the stations of Turba (where the current connection ends) and Risti. The rest of the track until the station of Rohuküla – a ferry port with connections to islands of Hiiumaa and Vormsi – is expected to be financed from the ERDF and national budget and is expected to be finalised in 2026. The completion of the total length of Tallinn-Rohuküla railway shall connect the Western region to the international TEN-T hubs in Tallinn.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 December 2024.

5.3.Investment: Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn

The objective of the measure is to increase the share of sustainable mobility in Tallinn region.

The Tallinn terminal is expected to be the starting point of Rail Baltic. The terminal shall consist of a terminal building, railway infrastructure and the surrounding infrastructure, of which the terminal building shall be financed from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The rest is expected to be financed from the Connecting Europe Facility.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 March 2026.

5.4.Investment: Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line

The objective of the measure is to increase the share of sustainable mobility in the Tallinn region. To this end, the measure aims to connect Rail Baltic to sea connections with the Nordic countries through Tallinn Old Port.

Support shall be given to the Tallinn City Transport Authority, responsible for operating public transport in Tallinn, to construct a new tramline of around 2 km which shall connect Tallinn Airport, Rail Baltic hub, the city centre, the Old Port and the regional train station.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2024.

5.5.Investment: Municipalities’ investments in bike- and walkways

The objective of the measure is to reduce car dependency and increase sustainable mobility in areas outside the three major urban centres (Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu), where the financial capacity of municipalities is an obstacle to development of safe and climate-friendly bicycle and pedestrian corridors.

Support shall be given to municipalities for the construction of 24 km of bike- and walkways infrastructure to ensure safe and sustainable access to public services, including public transport, and workplaces. Attention will be also paid to the Rail Baltic local stops and connection with existing cycling and pedestrian network.

The measure complements a similar measure expected to be financed from the ERDF, which helps increase mobility by bike in the three major urban centres of Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

E.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone/ Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Quantitative indicators (for targets)			Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
					Unit of measure	Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
81	5.1 Deployment of safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Adoption of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035 by the Government	Adoption of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035				Q1	2022	The Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035 shall be approved by the Government. It shall include the creation of the Tallinn capital region common transport system, actions to facilitate uptake of local biomethane, actions to develop sustainable and active urban mobility in bigger towns following the logic of integrated transport corridors, planning multimodal infrastructure, increasing the connections, speed and safety of rail, making the maritime transport sector more competitive and greener and connect it multimodally, developing faster and safer road transport. The plan shall include a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 700 000 tons (or 30%) compared to 2018 levels and reach a share of renewables in the energy consumed in the transport sector of 24% by 2035.
82	5.1 Deployment of safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Adoption of the Implementation Plan for green sustainable public transport development of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035	Adoption of the Implementation Plan				Q4	2022	The implementation plan shall be approved by the Steering Committee of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035. It shall include the creation of the Tallinn capital region common transport system, actions to facilitate uptake of local biomethane, actions to develop sustainable and active urban mobility in bigger towns following the logic of integrated transport corridors, planning multimodal infrastructure, increasing the connections, speed and safety of rail, making the maritime transport sector more competitive, greener and connect it multimodally, developing faster and safer road transport. The implementation plan shall include an annual reporting obligation on the responsible minister to the Government.
83	5.1 Deployment of safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Implementation of Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035	Implementation of several key measures of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035 completed				Q2	2026	The implementation of key measures of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan shall be completed, including building and extending the electrified railway lines from Tallinn to Tartu and harmonising the public transport system in the Tallinn capital region (including common ticketing and pricing systems).
84	5.2 Construction of a section of the westbound Tallinn-Rohuküla railway	Milestone	Award of a railway construction contract for the construction of a railway on the sections of Turba-Ellamaa and Ellamaa-Risti	Contract signed				Q2	2022	A contract shall be awarded for the construction of an electrified railway track on the sections of Turba-Ellamaa and Ellamaa-Risti over their total length.
85	5.2 Construction of a section of the westbound Tallinn-Rohuküla railway	Target	Completion of new railway (ready for traffic)		Km of railway track	0	15	Q4	2024	Completion of an electrified railway track, ready for passenger traffic, between Turba and Risti on Tallinn-Rohuküla line, connecting the West-Estonian railways to Tallinn’s Old Port and Tallinn Airport.
86	5.3 Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Award of the contract for the construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal terminal building in Tallinn	Contract signed				Q1	2022	The architectural and engineering design of the Rail Baltic Ülemiste multimodal terminal shall be completed and accepted by the contracting authority Rail Baltic Estonia OÜ and the works contract shall be signed with the constructor for the terminal building.
87	5.3 Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Completion of the terminal passage	Light traffic tunnel under the terminal authorised				Q4	2024	The Consumer Protection and Technical Surveillance Authority shall issue a permit for use of the tunnel, connecting St Petersburg road with Tallinn Airport below the Ülemiste terminal.
88	5.3 Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Completion of the new railway station	Construction works completed				Q1	2026	Construction works for the Rail Baltic Ülemiste multimodal terminal shall be completed and all necessary authorisations for use shall have been obtained.
89	5.4 Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Milestone	Completion of the tramway construction project design	Approval of the project design				Q4	2021	Tallinn Urban Planning and Utilities Board shall adopt the design of the tramway construction project.
90	5.4 Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Milestone	Award of works contract	Contract signed for the construction of the tramway line				Q2	2022	Works contract concluded between Tallinn Urban Planning and Utilities Board and the contractor for the construction of the tramway line between Gonsiori street and Põhja Puiestee
91	5.4 Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Target	New tramway line in operation		Meters of tramway line	0	2500	Q2	2024	The tramway section of 2500 meters in length shall be completed and put into service in accordance with the letter authorisation issued by the City of Tallinn
92	5.5 Municipalities’ investments in bike- and walkways	Milestone	Call for proposals for grants	Publication of the notice for call for proposals for grants				Q4	2022	An open call for investment by municipalities in bike- and walkways shall be published.
93	5.5 Municipalities’ investments in bike- and walkways	Target	Bike- and walkways infrastructure completed		Km of bike- and walkways	0	24	Q4	2025	At least 24 kilometres of bike and walkways shall be built as a result of the support scheme. These shall generally be new ways. In justified cases, the reconstruction of existing bike- and walkways shall be allowed, such as if the width of the existing walkway does not meet the standards, making it impossible for walkers and cyclists to move simultaneously in a safe and non-interference manner.

F. COMPONENT 6: Healthcare and social protection

This component of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan aims to address the challenges related to the resilience of and access to the health care system, the adequacy of the social safety net, accessibility of social services and youth unemployment. The objectives of the measures included in the component are to: address workforce shortages in the health sector, strengthen primary and hospital care, extend the duration of the unemployment insurance benefit in periods of high unemployment, improve access to social services, address youth unemployment and reduce the gender pay gap.

The component supports addressing the Country Specific Recommendation, on improving the accessibility and resilience of the health system, including by addressing the shortages of health workers, strengthening primary care and ensuring the supply of critical medical products (Country Specific Recommendation 1 in 2020), on improving the social safety net, increasing access to social services in an integrated way (Country Specific Recommendation 2 in 2019 and Country Specific Recommendation 2 in 2020) and on reducing the gender pay gap, including by improving wage transparency (Country Specific Recommendation 2 in 2019).

F.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

6.1.Reform: A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia

The objective of the reform is to improve the resilience of the Estonian health system, including for coping with crises, thus ensuring that people have access to high-quality, integrated healthcare throughout Estonia. The reform consists of the following elements:

(I)A Hospital Development Plan shall be adopted by 31 December 2024 which shall outline the consolidated hospital network in order to improve efficiency and infrastructure, and define the specialisation of hospitals to reduce the high rate of unmet need for medical care.

(II)Health workforce shortages shall be addressed by three measures:

a.A strategic framework shall be adopted by 31 December 2022 which shall outline the provision of health services in the various health sectors, in particular specialised care, the allocation of physical and human resources, and the funding mechanism to ensure the provision of good quality healthcare across the country. By 2023, the admission to nursing training shall be increased by 5% compared to 2020.

b.The reimbursement scheme for doctors, nurses and pharmacists shall be amended by 31 March 2023 in order to incentivise the health workforce to work in remote areas.

c.The agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Tartu shall be amended to lay down requirements for the gradual increase of admission in certain professions with shortages, in particular general practitioners, psychiatrists, internal diseases. The amendment shall enter into force by 30 June 2026.

6.2.Investment: Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus

The investment aims to contribute to the optimisation of the Estonian hospital network, increase efficiency and contribute to reducing the unmet need for specialised care, which is one of the highest in the Union. The investment consists of building the Northern Estonia Medical Campus as a centre of excellence in Estonia where high quality health care is provided in a modern and safe environment for two-thirds of the Estonian population. The Northern Estonia Medical Campus shall be established through the consolidation of two existing Tallinn hospitals, notably the East and West Tallinn Central Hospitals. The reduction of hospital buildings is expected to improve the services provided and a new modern facility is expected to help cope with the pressure caused by the growing number of patients and increase the availability and quality of health care services as well as help in health workforce retention in Estonia. The Recovery and Resilience Facility finances the construction of the Campus only partially.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

6.3.Reform: Strengthening primary health care

The objective of the reform is to ensure access to general medical care, improve the continuity of treatment and make provision of primary health care more flexible and human-centred. The reform consists of three sub-measures. First, in order to improve access to specialist care, the use of e-consultation in primary care was extended on 30 September 2020 allowing patients to be advised by a specialist without having to consult them face-to-face. Second, legislation entered into force on 31 March 2021 improving access to health care by increasing the level of support for general practitioners and by modifying the funding model for general medical care with a view to making working in primary health centres in remote areas more attractive. Third, the Health Services Organisation Act shall be amended as regards the management of the list of patients, ensuring continuity of primary care and extending the rights of nurses to prescribe medicines to patients.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 March 2023.

6.4.Reform: Renewal of the eHealth Governance

The objective of the reform is to update the governance framework for eHealth with a view to better responding to the needs of the health system and ensure the development of digital solutions to support a sustainable health system in Estonia. The reform consists of adopting a revised national governance model for information and communication technology of the current health system to provide a forward-looking new eHealth governance model and promote a common understanding among partners of the division of roles and responsibilities in eHealth.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 30 June 2023.

6.5.Investment: Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters

The objective of the investment is to ensure that – in case of events requiring urgent medical assistance (such as heavy traffic accidents, mass-affected rescue events, medical assistance on board ships) – rapid access to health care services is available for those who live in peripheral areas, especially from islands, through specialised helicopters. The investment consists of the purchase of two multifunctional medical helicopters, including ancillary equipment, maintenance supplies and initial training of personnel needed to operate the helicopters, as well as the construction of landing bases and landing sites at emergency medical centres. It is expected that this measure does not do significant harm to environmental objectives within the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, taking into account the description of the measure and the mitigating steps set out in the recovery and resilience plan in accordance with the DNSH Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01). In particular, the multipurpose helicopters shall be of the best available technology with the lowest environmental impacts in the sector.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 30 June 2026.

6.6.Investment: Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment

The objective of the investment is to help young people with little work experience get into employment. The legislation on the renewed “My first job” (M1T) scheme shall have two components: a wage subsidy paid to the employer and the reimbursement of the training costs of a young person. A wage subsidy and training allowance (up to EUR 2 500) shall be paid to an employer who employs a young person between 16 and 29 years old and registered as unemployed with no or only short-term work experience. The M1T measure shall be integrated with other services, in particular with follow-on support to young people and employers beyond the start of the employment relationship. The aim is, in particular, to prevent the premature end of the employment relationship and to identify, in cooperation with the employer and the young person, the training needs of the young person. A reinforced Youth Guarantee Action Plan shall be presented by 30 June 2022 which shall support the implementation of the investment with additional measures supporting young unemployed. In particular, it shall include measures to improve the skills of young people, define actions to prevent and address youth unemployment, including outreach and prevention of NEET-situation and define key parties and their roles to prevent and deal with youth unemployment.

The implementation of the investment shall be completed by 31 December 2025.

6.7.Reform: Extending the duration of unemployment insurance benefits

The objective of the reform is to address the long-standing challenge of improving the adequacy of the social safety net. The reform consists of the establishment of a mechanism to activate the extension of the period of the unemployment insurance benefits by 60 days, notably when the registered unemployment rate exceeds the non-accelerating inflation/wage rate of unemployment (NAIRU/NAWRU) by a significant margin. The mechanism of prolongation and the margin, which shall not be higher than 2%, shall be agreed upon in dialogue with the social partners. The measure aims at helping people to bridge a longer period of unemployment in difficult labour market conditions.

The reform shall be implemented by 30 June 2023.

6.8.Reform: Long-term care

The objective of the reform is to improve the provision of long-term care. The reform consists of the following elements:

(i) Amendments to the Social Welfare Act shall lay down the definition of long-term care and require local authorities to take into account the principle that a person must be able to live as long as possible in his or her home, in his or her usual environment, with sufficient quality services available. The amendments shall enter into force by 30 June 2022.

(ii) An Action Plan on providing social and health care in an integrated way shall provide for the establishment of an integrated care model throughout Estonia, lay down the roles and responsibilities of the actors involved and define the financing of the system. The Action Plan shall be adopted by 31 December 2022.

(iii) A Decree of the Minister of Social Protection shall define the design and characteristics of care services by local authorities to people with lower care needs, as well as the conditions for their implementation. In particular, it shall include adequate investments and development of services by local authorities to provide for independent living for older people with lower care needs and people with disabilities to support independent living. The Decree of the Minister of Social Protection by 31 December 2024.

(iv) Legislative amendments aiming at improving the support system for children with higher care needs shall provide for the modernisation and integration of services for children with higher care needs. In particular, services in the health, education, social protection and employment areas shall be integrated in order to provide comprehensive support for families under care burden. The current support system shall be simplified and the assessments of care needs consolidated so that parents have a secure point of contact for initial advice and support. The legislative amendments shall enter into force by 31 March 2025.

6.9.Reform: Reducing gender pay gap

The objective of the reform is to reduce the gender pay gap. The reform consists of the adoption of the Welfare Development Plan for 2023-2030 and its implementation and the roll out of a digital gender pay gap tool.

The Welfare Development Plan shall be adopted by 31 March 2024 and it shall lay down the strategic objectives of reducing social inequalities and poverty, ensuring gender equality and greater social inclusion, and promoting equal treatment of persons belonging to minority groups. The Development Plan shall outline measures to reduce the gender pay gap, in particular by increasing wage transparency, reducing the prevalence and negative impact of gender stereotypes on the lives and decisions of women and men, including concerning educational and career choices and carrying the care burden, and supporting a more effective implementation of the Gender Equality Act.

A digital gender pay gap tool shall be rolled out by 31 March 2024 which shall offer employers a simple and easy tool to receive and analyse data and information concerning the gender pay gap and its possible reasons in their organisations and thereby supporting them in making informed decisions and taking effective action to implement the principle of equal pay and to reduce the gender pay gap.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 March 2024.

F.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name	Qualitative indicators (for milestones)	Quantitative indicators (for targets)			Indicative timeline for completion		Description of each milestone and target
					Unit of measure	Baseline	Goal	Quarter	Year
94	6.1 A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Government Regulation on the Hospital network development plan	Entry into force of the Regulation				Q4	2024	Entry into force of the Regulation which shall: -lay down the list of regional, central, local and rehabilitation hospitals in order to ensure equal access to health care services; -the requirements, objectives and steps to be taken for consolidating the hospital network; -the necessary investments for the construction, renovation and re-profiling of the hospitals included in the list of hospitals.
95	6.1 A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Approval of the Strategic Framework for addressing health workforce shortages	Approval of the Strategic Framework for addressing health workforce shortages by the Minister of Health and Labour				Q4	2022	The Strategic Framework for addressing health workforce shortages shall outline: - measures on the organisation of health care services in the different health sectors, in particular specialised care, - allocation of physical and human resources to ensure the provision of health care throughout the territory, - financing, governance and information exchange mechanisms that ensure performance throughout the country.
96	6.1 A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour and Health on the Service Organisation Act amending the reimbursement system for doctors, nurses and pharmacists	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour and Health on the Service Organisation Act				Q1	2023	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour and Health on the Service Organisation Act which shall improve the reimbursement system for doctors, nurses and pharmacists to incentivise the health workforce to work in remote areas.
97	6.1 A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Target	Admission to nursing training		Percentage increase in the number of persons admitted to nursing training	0	5	Q4	2023	The admission of persons to nursing training has been increased by 5% compared to 2020.
98	6.1 A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Ministerial Regulation amending the agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Tartu on the shortage of doctors in certain specialisations	Entry into force of the Ministerial Regulation and agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Tartu				Q2	2026	Entry into force of the Ministerial Regulation amending the agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Tartu which shall lay down the requirements for the gradual increase of admission in certain professions with shortages, in particular general practitioners, psychiatrists, internal diseases.
99	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the design contract of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Signature of the design contract				Q4	2021	The contracting authority, which is the owner of the hospital, shall sign the contract for the design of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus. The contract shall include the obtaining of the necessary permits for the construction
100	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contracts for the excavation and for the water supply and electricity, and for the reinforced concrete structures of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Signature of contracts				Q4	2023	The contracting authority, which is the owner of the hospital, shall sign contracts for: - the excavation works and the connections with water supply, wastewater collection infrastructure and electricity; and - the reinforced concrete structures.
101	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contract for the construction of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Signature of the contract				Q1	2024	The contracting authority, which is the owner of the hospital, shall sign a contract for the construction of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus, including the installation of the technical building systems in particular the technical equipment for heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, lighting and electricity production, measurement, monitoring and control systems and interior works.
102	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Target	10% of the volume of the construction contract is fulfilled		Progress in construction	0%	10%	Q4	2024	10% of the construction contract mentioned in milestone 101 has been fulfilled when the builder has confirmed the completion of 10% of the construction work as defined in the contract, the contracting authority has accepted the work and possible deficiencies have been identified together with a deadline to resolve them.
103	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Target	50% of the volume of the construction contract is fulfilled		Progress in construction	10%	50%	Q4	2025	50% of the construction contract mentioned in milestone 101 has been fulfilled when the builder has confirmed the completion of 50% of the construction work as defined in the contract, the contracting authority has accepted the work and possible deficiencies have been identified together with a deadline to resolve them.
104	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contract for equipping the Northern Estonia Medical Campus to make it fully operational	Signature of the contract				Q2	2025	The contracting authority, which is the owner of the hospital, shall sign a contract for supplying the hospital with all the equipment necessary to make the hospital fully operational (such as hospitals beds, medical equipment) after the construction work has been completed.
105	6.2 Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Completion of the construction works	Certificate attesting the completion of the construction works				Q2	2026	The contracting authority, which is the owner of the hospital, shall receive a certificate from the contractor attesting the completion of the construction works. The contracting authority shall demonstrate that it has initiated the procedure for issuing a certificate that the building has been completed and complies with the relevant regulations. .
106	6.3 Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Government, which amends the list of health care services of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund on access to specialised medical care	Entry into force of legislative amendments to the Decree of the Government				Q3	2020	Entry into force of legislative amendments which shall improve the access to specialised care by extending the use of e-consultation in primary care allowing patients to be advised by a specialist without having to consult them face-to-face.
107	6.3 Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Decree of the Government which amends the list of health care services of the Estonian Health Insurance Fundon costs and services of general practitioners	Entry into force of the legislative amendments to the Decree of the Government				Q1	2021	Legislative amendments shall enter into force providing for the financing of fixed costs and services for general practitioners in order to increase the allocation of resources to primary medical practice outside metropolitan areas, especially in remote areas, and to increase patients’ access to diagnostic and screening services.
108	6.3 Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Health Services Organisation Act	Provision in the law indicating the entry into force of the law				Q1	2023	Entry into force of the amendments to Health Services Organisation Act which shall amend the management of the list of patients, ensure continuity of primary care and extend the rights of nurses to prescribe medicines to patients.
109	6.4 Renewal of the eHealth Governance	Milestone	Approval of the eHealth Governance Framework and its implementation roadmap	Approval of the proposal on the eHealth Governance Framework and implementation roadmap by the Steering Committee of the “Eesti tervise IKT juhtimise raamistik”				Q2	2023	Approval of the proposal on the Governance Framework and implementation roadmap which shall update the governance framework for eHealth and the coordination of the development of eHealth services.
110	6.5 Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Milestone	Award of contracts for multifunctional medical helicopter capabilities	Award of the public procurement contracts				Q4	2023	Contracts signed by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board on the purchase of medical emergency helicopters and on building the airbases and landing sites for the helicopter service of an ambulance. For the purchase of the special-purpose helicopters, the best technology that allows compliance with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) shall be sought.
111	6.5 Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Target	Reception of helicopters		Number of helicopters	0	2	Q1	2025	Delivery of two helicopters accepted by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board
112	6.5 Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Target	Completion of airbases built or expanded		Number of helicopters bases	0	2	Q2	2026	Two helicopter airbases/landing sites shall be constructed/expanded and shall be ready for use, as evidenced by formal acceptance of contract fulfilment by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
113	6.6 Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour to strengthen the “My First Job” scheme	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour				Q1	2022	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour which shall define the characteristics of the scheme and the conditions for its implementation, including financing and target group. The aim of the scheme shall be to enable young people without work experience or with little work experience to gain work experience and to improve their skills to participate in the labour market.
114	6.6 – Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Milestone	Youth Guarantee Action Plan	Adoption of the reinforced Youth Guarantee Action Plan by the Government				Q2	2022	The Government shall adopt an amended Youth Guarantee Action Plan to support youth employment. This action plan shall - include measures to improve the skills of young people, - define actions to prevent and address youth unemployment, including outreach and prevention of NEET-situation -define key parties and their roles of preventing and dealing with youth unemployment.
115	6.6 – Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Target	Number of young people participating in the “My First Job” scheme		Number of participants	0	3178	Q4	2025	At least 3 178 young people aged 16-29 have participated in the “My First Job” scheme (cumulative number of entrants).
116	6.7 Extending the duration of unemployment insurance benefits	Milestone	Entry into force of the amendments to the Unemployment Services and Benefits Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act	Entry into force of the legislative amendments				Q2	2023	Entry into force of the amendments to the Act which shall lay down a permanent mechanism to activate the extension of the duration of unemployment insurance benefits by 60 days, notably when the registered unemployment rate exceeds the non-accelerating inflation/wage rate of unemployment by a significant margin. The mechanism of prolongation and the margin, which shall not be higher than 2%, shall be agreed upon in dialogue with the social partners.
117	6.8 Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Social Welfare Act	Entry into force of legislative amendments				Q2	2022	Entry into force of legislative amendments to the Social Welfare Act which shall lay down the concept of long-term care and require local authorities to take into account the principle that a person must be able to live as long as possible in his or her home, in his or her usual environment, with sufficient quality services available.
118	6.8 Long-term care	Milestone	Action Plan on an integrated care model	Adoption of the Action Plan				Q4	2022	The Ministry of Social Affairs shall adopt an Action Plan that provides for the establishment of an integrated care model throughout Estonia and the roles and responsibilities of the actors involved in the future financing model of the system.
119	6.8 Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of the decree of the Minister of Social Protection	Entry into force of the decree of the Minister of Social Protection				Q4	2024	The Decree of the Minister of Social Protection shall define the design and characteristics of services by local authorities to people with lower care needs, as well as the conditions of their implementation. In particular, it shall include investments and development of services by local authorities to provide for independent living for older people with lower care needs and people with disabilities to support independent living.
120	6.8 Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of the legislative amendments of the support system for children with high care needs	Entry into force of the legislative amendments				Q1	2025	Entry into force of legislative amendments which shall provide for the modernisation and integration of services for children with higher care needs. In particular, - services in the health, education, social protection and employment areas shall be integrated in order to provide comprehensive support for families under care burden, and - the current support system shall be simplified and the assessment of care needs consolidated so that parents have a secure point of contact for initial advice and support.
121	6.9 Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Adoption of the Welfare Development Plan 2023-2030 by the government	Adoption of the Welfare Development Plan				Q1	2024	The Plan shall outline the measures to reduce the gender pay gap.
122	6.9 Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Digital gender pay gap tool	Developing a prototype of a gender pay gap tool				Q4	2022	A prototype of a gender pay gap tool for employers shall be developed with the aim of providing them with data and information concerning the gender pay gap and its possible reasons in their organisations and thereby supporting making informed decisions and taking effective action in order to implement the principle of equal pay and to reduce the gender pay gap.
123	6.9 Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Digital gender pay gap tool	Roll-out of a digital gender pay gap tool				Q1	2024	The digital gender pay gap tool shall be available to employers with the aim of providing them with data and information concerning the gender pay gap and its possible reasons in their organisations and thereby supporting making informed decisions and taking effective action in order to implement the principle of equal pay and to reduce the gender pay gap.

G. Audit and Control

G.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable financial support

The objective of the reform is to set the legal framework for the implementation and monitoring of the recovery and resilience plan. It shall define the roles played by relevant public entities in the implementation of the plan and how these bodies shall carry out their tasks.

The implementation of the reform shall be completed by 31 December 2021.

G.2. Milestones, targets, indicators, and timetable for monitoring and implementation for non-repayable financial support

Sequential Number

Related Measure (Reform or Investment)

Milestone / Target

Name

Qualitative indicators
(for milestones)

Quantitative indicators
(for targets)

Indicative timeline for completion

Description of each milestone and target

Unit of measure

Baseline

Goal

Quarter

Year

124

Monitoring and implementation of the plan

Milestone

Entry into force of the Government Regulation on the legal framework for the implementation and monitoring of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia.

Entry into force of government regulation

2021

Entry into force of the regulation establishing the legal framework for the implementation and monitoring of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia before the first payment request is made.

The regulation shall at least define the authorities involved in the implementation of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia and their tasks including the tasks of the Ministry of Finance, the sectoral ministries and the State Shared Service Center.

2.Estimated total cost of the recovery and resilience plan

The estimated total cost of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia is EUR 982 490 000.

SECTION 2: FINANCIAL SUPPORT

1.Financial contribution

The instalments referred to in Article 2(2) shall be organised in the following manner:

First Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

23	2.1. Green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Creation of a Green Transition Task Force to implement and monitor the green transition
28	2.3. Green technology development programmes	Milestone	Establishment of a working group to plan and set up the development programme
37	2.6. Green Fund	Milestone	Signature of contractual agreement between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and SmartCap
38	2.6. Green Fund	Milestone	Adoption of the investment policy document by SmartCap
44	3.1. Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Milestone	Setting up a data management team in the Statistical Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the State Information System Authority
70	4.4. Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Government decision on investments needed to alleviate the defence related height restrictions on wind parks
71	4.4. Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Adoption of the decision of the Government on the initiation of the preparation process of the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector, the designation of those responsible and deadlines
74	4.5. Programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase renewable energy production capacity and adapt to climate change (such as protection against storms)	Milestone	Signature of network investment co-financing contract with transmission system operator
81	5.1. Deploy safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Adoption of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035 by the Government
86	5.3. Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Award of the contract for the construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal terminal building in Tallinn
89	5.4. Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Milestone	Completion of the tramway construction project design
99	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the design contract of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus
106	6.3. Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Government, which amends the list of health care services of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund on access to specialised medical care
107	6.3. Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Decree of the Government which amends the list of health care services of the Estonian Health Insurance Fundon costs and services of general practitioners
113	6.6. Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour to strengthen the “My First Job” scheme
124	Audit and Control	Milestone	Entry into force of the Government Regulation on the legal framework for the implementation and monitoring of the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia.
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Second Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

1	1.1. Digital transformation in enterprises	Milestone	Call for proposals with award criteria and award conditions
11	1.4. Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Milestone	Entry into force of secondary legislation setting out the terms of support for the development of digital skills
16	1.5.1. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Country and regional strategies	Milestone	Preparation of the development of strategies
19	1.5.2. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Innovative business centres in key export markets	Milestone	Preparatory analysis to define the content and the locations of business centres
21	1.5.3. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Global e-export impact groups and virtual stages	Milestone	Setting-up of impact groups and selection of destinations for global digital missions
25	2.2. Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Entry into force of secondary legislation setting out the terms of support for the development of green skills
32	2.4. Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies	Milestone	Entry into force of the ministerial decree setting out the terms and conditions of grant eligibility
34	2.5. Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Milestone	Publication of call for proposals for grants
51	3.4. #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Access to digital public services through the virtual assistant platform
54	3.5. Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Milestone	Development of centrally delivered/shared IT base services
65	4.2. Support for the renovation of apartment buildings	Milestone	Publication of calls for applications for residential apartment buildings renovation grants
68	4.3. Support for the renovation of small residential buildings	Milestone	Published calls for renovation grant
84	5.2. Construction of a section of the westbound Tallinn-Rohuküla railway	Milestone	Award of a railway construction contract for the construction of a railway on the sections of Turba-Ellamaa and Ellamaa-Risti
90	5.4. Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Milestone	Award of works contract
114	6.6. Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Milestone	Youth Guarantee Action Plan
117	6.8. Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Social Welfare Act
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Third Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

7	1.3. Development of digital waybills services	Target	eFTI (electronic Freight Transport Information) platforms development
24	2.1. Green transition of enterprises	Milestone	Adoption of the Circular Economy Action Plan by the Green Transition Task Force
41	2.7. Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Milestone	Entry into force of the ministerial decree setting out the terms and conditions for granting support
47	3.2. Development of event services and proactive digital public services for individuals	Target	Launch of personal life event services and/or pro-active services
49	3.3. Development of event services and digital gateway for entrepreneurs	Target	Deployment of IT developments contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway
63	4.1. Energy efficiency promotion	Milestone	Conclusion of the cooperation agreement stipulating conditions for cooperation between SA Kredex/Enterprise Estonia and county development centers
76	4.6. Programme to boost energy production in industrial areas	Milestone	Publication of a call for proposals for projects boosting energy production in industrial sites
78	4.7. Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Milestone	Publication of a call for proposals for a pilot energy storage programme
82	5.1. Deploy safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Adoption of the Implementation Plan for green sustainable public transport development of the Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035
92	5.5. Municipalities’ investments in bike- and walkways	Milestone	Call for proposals for grants
95	6.1. A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Approval of the Strategic Framework for addressing health workforce shortages
96	6.1. A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Health and Labour and Health on the Service Organisation Act amending the reimbursement system for doctors, nurses and pharmacists
108	6.3. Strengthening primary health care	Milestone	Entry into force of amendments to the Health Services Organisation Act
109	6.4. Renewal of the eHealth Governance	Milestone	Approval of the eHealth Governance Framework and its implementation roadmap
116	6.7. Extending the duration of unemployment insurance benefits	Milestone	Entry into force of the amendments to the Unemployment Services and Benefits Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act
118	6.8. Long-term care	Milestone	Action Plan on an integrated care model
122	6.9. Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Digital gender pay gap tool
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Fourth Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

2	1.1. Digital transformation in enterprises	Target	Award of grants
12	1.4. Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Enrolment in training activities
14	1.4. Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Number of new upskilling and retraining modules
17	1.5.1. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Country and regional strategies	Milestone	Procurement of studies
26	2.2. Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Target	Number of upskilling and retraining modules
29	2.3. Green technology development programmes	Milestone	Set up of the Green Technologies Development Programme
35	2.5. Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Target	Number of contracts awarded following the call for proposals
55	3.5. Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Deployment of national private cloud infrastructure by public authorities
56	3.5. Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Milestone	Extension of the cloud infrastructure to the data embassy
61	3.8. Construction of very high capacity broadband networks	Target	Rollout of very high capacity broadband network to new sites
91	5.4. Construction of the Tallinn Old Port tram line	Target	New tramway line in operation
97	6.1. A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Target	Admission to nursing training
100	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contracts for the excavation and for the water supply and electricity, and for the reinforced concrete structures of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus
101	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contract for the construction of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus
110	6.5. Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Milestone	Award of contracts for multifunctional medical helicopter capabilities
121	6.9. Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Adoption of the Welfare Development Plan 2023-2030 by the government
123	6.9. Reducing gender pay gap	Milestone	Digital gender pay gap tool
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Fifth Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

4	1.2. Development of e-construction	Milestone	Adoption of international standards and best practices for the use of digital technologies in construction
8	1.3. Development of digital waybills services	Target	eCMR (electronic Consignment Note) interface developments
15	1.4. Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Review of qualification standards for ICT specialists.
39	2.6. Green Fund	Target	Volume of investments in venture capital funds or equity investments in enterprises
42	2.7. Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Milestone	Technologies and equipment to create complete green hydrogen value chains
57	3.5. Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Migration of critical systems to the national cloud infrastructure of the data embassy
58	3.5. Reconfiguration of basic digital services and safe transition to cloud infrastructure	Target	Central security testing of public authorities’ information systems
59	3.6. Establishing the strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the amendment of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act and of other legislative, administrative and contractual changes needed for the Centre for Strategic Analysis
64	4.1. Energy efficiency promotion	Milestone	Digital tools to facilitate access to information on renovation including visualising the results of the renovation and estimating the cost of renovation have become operational
66	4.2. Support for the renovation of apartment buildings	Target	Dwellings with improved energy performance
69	4.3. Support for the renovation of small residential buildings	Target	Dwellings with improved energy performance
72	4.4. Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Entry into force of the relevant primary and/or secondary legislation and publication of guidance material to alleviate the barriers for the installation of renewable energy generating installations and energy storage facilities
85	5.2. Construction of a section of the westbound Tallinn-Rohuküla railway	Target	Completion of new railway (ready for traffic)
87	5.3. Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Completion of the terminal passage
94	6.1. A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Government Regulation on the Hospital network development plan
102	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Target	10% of the volume of the construction contract is fulfilled
111	6.5. Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Target	Reception of helicopters
119	6.8. Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of the decree of the Minister of Social Protection
120	6.8. Long-term care	Milestone	Entry into force of the legislative amendments of the support system for children with high care needs
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Sixth Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

3	1.1. Digital transformation in enterprises	Target	Award of grants
5	1.2. Development of e-construction	Milestone	Availability of public services on the e-construction platform
6	1.2. Development of e-construction	Target	Completion of development and prototyping projects
9	1.3. Development of digital waybills services	Target	Total number of projects completed
33	2.4. Modernisation of the business models in manufacturing companies	Target	Number of projects supported
45	3.1. Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Target	Completion of data quality improvement projects
46	3.1. Creation and development of a centre of excellence for data governance and open data	Target	Publication of datasets on the national open data portal
48	3.2. Development of event services and proactive digital public services for individuals	Target	Launch of personal event services and pro-active services
50	3.3. Development of event services and digital gateway for entrepreneurs	Target	Deployment of IT developments contributing to the implementation of the business event services and gateway
52	3.4. #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Introduction of the Bürokratt virtual assistant in digital public services environments
53	3.4. #Bürokratt programme (national virtual assistant platform and ecosystem)	Target	Access to digital public services through the virtual assistant platform
62	3.8. Construction of very high capacity broadband networks	Target	Rollout of very high capacity broadband network to new sites
73	4.4. Boosting the green transition in the energy economy	Milestone	Adoption of the National Development Plan of the Energy Sector by the Government
93	5.5. Municipalities’ investments in bike- and walkways	Target	Bike- and walkways infrastructure completed
103	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Target	50% of the volume of the construction contract is fulfilled
104	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Signature of the contract for equipping the Northern Estonia Medical Campus to make it fully operational
115	6.6. Providing labour market measures to reduce youth unemployment	Target	Number of young people participating in the “My First Job” scheme
		Instalment Amount	EUR 145 394 882

Seventh Instalment (non-repayable support):

Sequential Number	Related Measure (Reform or Investment)	Milestone / Target	Name

10	1.3. Development of digital waybills services	Milestone	Ex-post evaluation of the development and deployment of the digital waybills
13	1.4. Skills reform for the digital transformation of businesses	Target	Completion of training activities
18	1.5.1. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Country and regional strategies	Target	Number of country and regional export strategies
20	1.5.2. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Innovative business centres in key export markets	Target	Number of business centres opened
22	1.5.3. Supporting the competitiveness of enterprises in foreign markets - Global e-export impact groups and virtual stages	Target	Number of missions carried out by the global impact groups and number of major events in which Estonia was represented through ‘virtual stages’
27	2.2. Green skills to support the green transition of enterprises	Target	People taking part in upskilling and retraining programmes
30	2.3. Green technology development programmes	Target	Number of clusters supported through the Green Technology Development Programme
31	2.3. Green technology development programmes	Target	Number of start-ups supported through the Green Technology Development Programme and which have received private investment
36	2.5. Deployment of resource-efficient green technologies	Target	Number of projects completed
40	2.6. Green Fund	Target	Volume of investments in venture capital funds or equity investments in enterprises
43	2.7. Creating opportunities for the uptake of renewables-based green hydrogen technologies	Target	Grants allocated to renewables-based green hydrogen technologies representing at least EUR 49.49 million
60	3.7. Information system for real-time strategic analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing	Milestone	Development of the new real-time ICT analysis system for the Centre for Strategic Analysis, and delivery to the Financial Intelligence Unit
67	4.2. Support for the renovation of apartment buildings	Target	Estimated annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
75	4.5. Programme to strengthen the electricity grid to increase renewable energy production capacity and adapt to climate change (such as protection against storms)	Target	Additional renewable energy connection capacity created via investments into the transmission network
77	4.6. Programme to boost energy production in industrial areas	Target	Additional connection capacity for renewable electricity production in or near industrial sites connected to the grid
79	4.7. Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Target	Additional heat storage capacity resulting from investment support
80	4.7. Pilot Energy Storage Programme	Target	Additional electricity storage capacity resulting from investment support
83	5.1. Deploy safe, green, competitive, needs-based and sustainable transport and energy infrastructure	Milestone	Implementation of Transport and Mobility Development Plan 2021-2035
88	5.3. Construction of the Rail Baltic multimodal joint terminal in Tallinn	Milestone	Completion of the new railway station
98	6.1. A comprehensive change in the organisation of health care in Estonia	Milestone	Entry into force of the Ministerial Regulation amending the agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Tartu on the shortage of doctors in certain specialisations
105	6.2. Establishment of the Northern Estonia Medical Campus	Milestone	Completion of the construction works
112	6.5. Capacity building for multipurpose medical helicopters	Target	Completion of airbases built or expanded
		Instalment Amount	EUR 96 929 921

SECTION 3: ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

1.Arrangements for monitoring and implementation of the recovery and resilience plan

The monitoring and implementation of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan shall take place in accordance with the following arrangements:

The Ministry of Finance as the lead ministry and the State Shared Service Center shall ensure overall coordination, monitoring and implementation of the recovery and resilience plan. The State Shared Service Center shall perform the functions of the managing authority. The State Budget Department in the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the State Shared Service Center shall carry out the tasks related to monitoring and evaluation.

Sectoral ministries and agencies shall perform the responsibilities assigned to them, related to the implementation of the plan. Their services shall also support the monitoring of the progress of the projects under their competency and maintain close cooperation with the State Shared Service Center and the Ministry of Finance. To this end, the existing Structural Funds Operating System (SFOS) shall be used to record all the data related to implementation and monitoring of the plan.

The Financial Control Department of the Ministry of Finance, the audit authority, shall carry out regular audits of the management and control systems put in place. It shall also prepare a summary of the audits carried out for requests for payments. The Audit Authority shall also host the Anti-Fraud Co-ordinating Service.

All national and external sources shall be budgeted together in sector-specific programmes allowing transparent monitoring of sectoral funding and allowing the identification of risks and prevention of double funding.

2.Arrangements for providing full access by the Commission to the underlying data

The State Shared Service Center as the managing authority shall hold the responsibility for submitting requests for payment to the European Commission and for drawing up the management declaration by which it certifies that the funds have been used for their intended purpose, that the information is complete, accurate and reliable and that the control system provides the necessary assurance. In addition, monitoring and evaluation shall also be ensured by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the State Shared Service Center.

Data related to the implementation and monitoring of the plan shall be stored in the existing integrated information system, the Structural Funds Operating System (SFOS). The SFOS is adapted to the requirements under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 for data collection, progress reports and requests for payment, including to collect indicators and other information necessary to demonstrate and report the achievement of milestones and targets. The SFOS shall be used by all actors involved in the implementation of the plan. The information in the SFOS shall continuously be updated on the progress and results of the plan including deficiencies identified and all corrective actions taken.

In accordance with Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, upon completion of the relevant agreed milestones and targets in Section 2.1 of this Annex, Estonia shall submit to the Commission a duly justified request for payment of the financial contribution. Estonia shall ensure that, upon request, the Commission has full access to the underlying relevant data that supports the due justification of the request for payment, both for the assessment of the request for payment in accordance with Article 24(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and for audit and control purposes.

(1) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(2) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(3) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(4) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(5) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(6) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(7) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(8) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(9) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(10) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(11)

This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(12) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(13) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(14) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(15) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(16) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(17) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(18) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(19) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(20) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(21) Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

(22) Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not significantly lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

(23) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

(24) This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

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