The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''
Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the
cabinet of
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Under the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia.
The cabinet carries out the country's domestic and foreign policy, shaped by parliament (Riigikogu); it directs and co-ordinates the work of government institutions and bears full responsibility for everything occurring within the authority of executive power. The government, headed by the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, thus represents the political leadership of the country and makes decisions in the name of the whole executive power.
The following duties are attributed to the cabinet by the
Constitution of Estonia
Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...
:
# executes the domestic and foreign policies of the state;
# directs and co-ordinates the activities of government agencies;
# administers the implementation of laws, resolutions of the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...
(Parliament), and legislation of the
President of the Republic of Estonia;
# introduces bills, and submits international treaties to the Riigikogu for ratification and denunciation;
# prepares the draft of the state budget and submits it to the Riigikogu, administers the implementation of the state budget and presents a report on the implementation of the state budget to the Riigikogu;
# issues regulations and orders on the basis of and for the implementation of law;
# manages relations with other states;
# performs other duties which the Constitution and the laws vest in the Government of the Republic.
Unlike other cabinets in most other parliamentary regimes, the Government is both the ''
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
'' and ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' executive authority in Estonia. In most other parliamentary regimes, the head of state is usually the nominal chief executive, though bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Estonia, however, the Constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Government, not the
President.
Current cabinet
The current cabinet was approved by the ''Riigikogu'' on 15 July 2022.
The coalition agreed on 14 ministers in addition to the prime minister with five each for Reform, Isamaa and the Social Democrats.
Previous cabinets
Estonian Provisional Government
Constituent cabinets
Riigikogu cabinets
Presidents cabinet
Cabinet-in exile
Governments of the newly independent Estonia
References
Sources
Estonica : State : Government:Previous cabinets
External links
The Government of the Republic of Estonia
{{Authority control
Cabinet
Estonia, Government of
European governments