Unofficial translation
(1) The Fiscal Council is an independent advisory body that assesses the economic forecasts that serve as a base for Estonian fiscal policy and observes whether the budgetary rules are followed.
(2) Eesti Pank covers the reasonable operating costs of the Fiscal Council and provides it with the background information, rooms and technical equipment needed for its work, and any necessary administrative services.
(3) The Estonian name of the Fiscal Council is the Eelarvenõukogu.
(4) The Fiscal Council is located at Estonia pst 13, 15095 Tallinn, Republic of Estonia.
(1) The Fiscal Council was established under section 42 of the Eesti Pank Act and clause 4 of the State Budget Act.
(2) The Statutes of the Fiscal Council set out its operating procedures, the requirements of members, the grounds for starting and terminating membership, coverage of the costs of the Council and the rules for remuneration of members. The Statutes of the Fiscal Council are approved and can be changed by the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank under section 42 (4) of the Eesti Pank Act.
The Fiscal Council assesses the macroeconomic and monetary forecasts of the state and how well the budget rules in the second chapter of the State Budget Act and in European Union law are followed. This assessment involves:
1) giving an opinion
on the macroeconomic and monetary forecasts of the state and on the achievement
of the target for the general government structural budget position;
2) giving an opinion
on the achievement of the target for the general government structural budget
position reflected in the State Budget Strategy and the stability programme
before they are approved, having taken account of the fiscal position rules and
the need to adjust the structural fiscal position;
3) collecting the
data and explanations that it needs for its work from ministries, government
institutions and Eesti Pank;
4) drafting decisions
and opinions on matters that fall within its remit;
5) informing the
public of its position on the observance of domestic budget rules and on the
economic and fiscal forecasts used as a basis for fiscal policy.
(1) The Fiscal Council is independent in the execution of its duties.
(2) The Fiscal Council does not accept guidance from Eesti Pank, the government or any other bodies from the public or private sectors.
(1) The Fiscal Council has six members, which includes the Chair and the Vice-Chair (members are referred to as a Member of the Fiscal Council or as Members of the Fiscal Council).
(2) Members of the Council must have:
1) an unblemished
reputation;
2) a Master’s degree
or equivalent in economics at the minimum;
3) the experience
required for the work of the Fiscal Council.
(3) Members of the Fiscal Council may not have a job or take part in activities that affects or could affect the independence of the Council in its work.
(1) The work of the Fiscal Council is led by the Chair and the Vice-Chair.
(2) In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair will act as replacement. If the Vice-Chair is also absent, the members of the Council will elect a temporary replacement from among their number.
(3) The duties of the Chair of the Fiscal Council are:
1) to represent the
Fiscal Council in public;
2) to organise the
activities of the Council;
3) to summon and
chair sessions of the Council;
4) to decide whether
to invite people who are not Members of the Fiscal Council to meetings of the
Council;
5) to sign the
decisions of the Council and the minutes of the Fiscal Council meetings.
(1) The Fiscal Council’s Chair, Vice-Chair and four members are nominated to office and can be dismissed by the Eesti Pank Supervisory Board at the proposal of the Governor of Eesti Pank. The Chair, Vice-Chair and Members of the Council are appointed to office for five years as a single membership list.
(2) The mandate of a Member of the Fiscal Council can be ended by the resignation of the Member, by a proposal by the Governor of Eesti Pank to dismiss the Member, by the mandate of the membership of the Council reaching its term, or by the death of the Member.
(3) Members of the Fiscal Council must inform the Governor of Eesti Pank of any intention to resign from office at least four months in advance.
(4) The Governor may propose the dismissal of a Member of the Fiscal Council if the Member:
1) takes on a job or engages in other activity that the Governor of Eesti Pank finds will affect or could affect the independence or the reputation of the Council;
2) has not participated in the work of the Fiscal Council for more than half a year.
(5) When the mandate of the Chair, the Vice-Chair or a Member of the Council ends, the Supervisory Board appoints a new Member of the Council as a replacement at the proposal of the Governor of Eesti Pank. The mandate of the Member appointed to replace the Member whose mandate has ended will end at the same time as those of the other Members of the Fiscal Council.
(1) Members of the Fiscal Council must keep secret indefinitely all confidential information received in the course of their work for the Fiscal Council, and must not use that information for their own benefit.
(2) Additional conditions for the duty of confidentiality, liability for breach of confidentiality, and employment restrictions after Membership ends can be set out more precisely in the contract signed between Eesti Pank and the Member of the Fiscal Council.
(1) The Fiscal Council works to the annual plan of work it has set for itself.
(2) The plan of work of the Fiscal Council must contain a timetable for at least the following responsibilities:
1) giving an opinion on the macroeconomic and monetary forecasts of the state; 2) giving an opinion on the target for the general government budget position reflected in the budget strategy and the stability programme; 3) giving an opinion on the achievement of the target for the general government structural budget position.
(1) The Fiscal Council takes decisions and publishes opinions within its remit.
(2) The Fiscal Council takes decisions on the organisation of its own work.
(3) The opinion of the Fiscal Council is a position or recommendation to the public, the Riigikogu and the government, within which the Council gives assessments within its remit.
(1) Eesti Pank supplies the background information needed by the Fiscal Council for its work. The Council interprets the information received from Eesti Pank independently and is not responsible for any conclusions contained within that information.
(2) The Fiscal Council gets assistance in its technical tasks from a secretary who is an employee of Eesti Pank. The secretary to the Council takes minutes at the meetings of the Council.
(3) With the agreement of the Governor of Eesti Pank, the Fiscal Council can use employees of Eesti Pank temporarily if it is necessary for the work of the Council and does not seriously threaten the independence of the Council.
(4) Eesti Pank allows the Council to use rooms and technical equipment of Eesti Pank as far as it is necessary for the work of the Council, if this is justified by circumstances and does not lead to any significant risks for Eesti Pank.
The Fiscal Council has the right to collect the data and explanations that it needs for its work from ministries, government institutions and Eesti Pank.
(1) Meetings of the Fiscal Council are held as necessary and in accordance with the plan of work of the Council, but not less frequently than five times in a calendar year.
(2) Meetings of the Council are held in the premises of Eesti Pank, unless otherwise decided by the Chair.
(3) If justified by circumstances, the Chair can organise a meeting by tele-conference or video-conference where the Members of the Council are not physically present.
(1) Meetings of the Council are called by the Chair of the Council. Meetings can also by called when requested by at least three Members of the Council.
(2) The agenda for the meetings is decided by the Chair of the Council.
(3) The call for a meeting must give:
1) the time and place
of the meeting;
2) the provisional agenda of the meeting;
3) other important circumstances related to the meeting.
(4) The meetings of the Council are closed, unless otherwise decided by the chair of the meeting.
(5) The chair of a meeting of the Council can invite people who are not Members of the Council to attend meetings or for individual items on the agenda if they can supply necessary background information to the Fiscal Council. People invited to a meeting of the Fiscal Council have the right to speak.
(6) The secretary to the Council sends the documents that Members will need for making decisions, or makes them available online, at least two working days before the meeting is held unless the Council decides otherwise.
(1) A quorum is reached for meetings of the Fiscal Council if at least four Members of the Council are present.
(2) Members of the Council attend meetings in person. Attending in person also covers attending through technical communications equipment.
(3) If a quorum cannot be reached for a meeting to be held, a new meeting with the same agenda is called, to be held within five working days after the cancellation of the meeting.
(4) Questions on the organisation of the activities of the Fiscal Council are presented by the chair of the meeting or by a person authorised by the chair of the meeting.
(1) Meetings of the Council are chaired by the Chair of the Council. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair chairs meetings, and in the absence of both Chair and Vice-Chair, those present elect someone from among their number to chair the meeting.
(2) The final agenda is decided at the start of the meeting.
(1) The decisions of the Fiscal Council are taken at meetings of the Council.
(2) A decision of the Council is passed if more than half of the Members present at the meeting vote in favour of it.
(3) A decision of the Fiscal Council must contain the name of the decision, the title and number of the decision, the date on which the decision is made, and the contents of the decision.
(4) Fiscal Council decisions are signed by the chair of the meeting. Decisions come into force from the moment they are signed unless they specifically state a later date.
(1) Meetings of the Fiscal Council are minuted by the secretary to the Council, or in the absence of the secretary by a person nominated by the chair of the meeting.
(2) The minutes of the meetings record:
1) the number of the
meeting;
2) the time and place
of the meeting;
3) the names of the
Members of the Council and other people who are present at the meeting;
4) the names of the
person chairing the meeting and the person taking the minutes;
5) the agenda of the
meeting;
6) the names of the
people making presentations on items on the agenda and brief descriptions of
the contents of the presentations;
7) brief descriptions
of discussions;
8) decisions passed
at the meeting together with the voting results;
9) any other
important matters discussed at the meeting.
(3) Any documents presented during the meeting and any documents used for making decisions are attached in an appendix to the minutes of the Council meeting.
(4) Members of the Council who do not agree with decisions of the Council have the right to have their dissenting opinion noted in the minutes or attached in written form to the minutes.
(5) The minutes of the meeting are signed by the person who chaired the meeting and by the person who took the minutes.
(1) The Chair of the Council arranges the execution of decisions of the Council.
(2) The opinions of the Fiscal Council are published on its website.
(1) The secretary to the Fiscal Council organises the formatting, storage and use of documentation.
(2) The Eesti Pank document management system (DMS) is used for managing digital documents and for their proper storage.
(3) Members of the Council and the secretary to the Council have access to its documentation, and the Eesti Pank DMS manager also has access to digital documents. The Fiscal Council decides on whether and to what extent to make documents available to other people.
(1) Originals of Fiscal Council paper documents are stored by the secretary to the Council until the end of the current administrative year. After this they are transferred to the Eesti Pank archive, where they are stored until the end of their term of storage or their transfer to the state archives.
(2) Digital documents of the Fiscal Council are stored in the DMS until the end of their term of storage or their transfer to the state archives.
(3) Fiscal Council documents are transferred to the Eesti Pank archives and stored in accordance with the administrative principles of Eesti Pank.
(1) The activities of the Fiscal Council are funded by Eesti Pank from its own budget.
(2) Members of the Council are paid a monthly salary for their work. The monthly salary of the Chair of the Council is 15% of the highest salary level for civil servants and the salary of Members is 10% of the highest salary.
(3) The level of the other expenses of the Fiscal Council in the Eesti Pank budget is approved by the Governor of Eesti Pank after consultation with the Council, following the principle that the resources given to the Council must be sufficient to let it do its work independently.
(4) The expenses of the Fiscal Council are covered by Eesti Pank from its own budget to the extent foreseen, at the proposal of the Chair of the Council.
(1) The Fiscal Council makes a report on its activities during the calendar year, containing a review of the questions and key issues raised in the discussions of the Council. The Chair of the Council presents the report to the Governor and the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank.
(2) The report on the activities of the Fiscal Council is published on the Council’s website at the latest by 30 April of the year following the year covered by the report.
Unofficial translation
