OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a forum of industrially developed democratic countries in Paris.
The OECD is an international organisation dealing with global issues of like-minded member states, Estonia has been a member since December 2010.
The OECD was founded on 30 September 1961 as a successor to the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation. Currently, the membership includes 37 countries.
Countries can become members of the OECD if they fulfil the so-called Noboru criteria and:
- are like-minded;
- have an open market economy;
- are democratic and pluralistic;
- respect human rights.
The motto of the OECD is to help build better policies for better lives. The purpose of the OECD is to contribute to the economic development of its member and non-member countries and to the expansion of world trade. The OECD is not a financial organisation and does not provide loans or grants.
The OECD is mainly engaged in improving the collection and analysis of economic indicators of the member states in order to shape economic policy activities more effectively. The OECD also deals with the analysis and prevention of social and environmental protection problems and the development of multilateral trade systems.
OECD member countries work closely together and its institutions deal with both general macroeconomic and sectoral issues. The OECD publishes comparative reviews of the economies of member and partner countries. Collections of statistical data, analyses and recommendations for the development of policy in the sectors are published for various economic branches.
In analysing the economy, there is extensive cooperation with several other world organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), the G7 and the G20.
The main areas of activity of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in the OECD
Particular attention is paid to economic and financial issues in the OECD, both general macroeconomic issues and issues relating to different economic branches. The OECD publishes comparative reviews of the economies of member and partner countries. Collections of statistical data, analyses and recommendations for the development of policy in the sectors are published for various economic branches.
In analysing the economy, there is extensive cooperation with several other world organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.
Fact-based analyses based on high-quality statistics have been a central concern of Estonia from the beginning, especially on topics such as national economies and policy choices, financial services and insurance as well as private pension provision, public finances, sustainability of pension systems, innovation of the applied side of government budgets (including digitisation, performance management), broader structural reforms and productivity growth, and sustainable financing.
During the pandemic COVID -19 special attention was paid to the economic downturn caused by health and quarantine measures and the corresponding measures for containment and recovery, the corresponding exchange of information between countries, etc. (see the OECD’s COVID-19 topic page for over a hundred policy papers).
Trade and investment. The purpose of the OECD is to contribute to the economic development of its member and non-member countries and to the expansion of world trade.
The OECD stands for that the flow of goods (including services) and investments is open and that restrictive measures are as fair and justified as possible. The OECD conducts research and analysis that measures the impacts of trade and investment, various global value chains, and provides an empirical basis for policies.
One of the most important OECD metrics for Estonia is the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), which measures and compares measures that restrict trade in services in member states. There is a lively exchange of experience on the topics of assessing the impact of investor services and export credit measures.
OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct Since 1976, the OECD has OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the purpose of which is to ensure the responsible operation of enterprises in the destination country in accordance with OECD principles.
The guidelines have been applied by the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, which is required to be followed by all OECD member states and countries that have joined the declaration (50 joined countries, including all non-OECD members).
In each country that has joined the Guidelines, a National Contact Point (NCP) has been established to implement the Guidelines for responsible business practices and to handle complaints about violations of the OECD Guidelines. Estonia joined the Declaration on the Implementation of the Guidelines as early as 2001 (i.e. before joining the OECD), and the tasks of the National Contact Point are carried out by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
The implementation of the guidelines is carried out in cooperation with representatives of enterprises and trade unions to the OECD. Also, for better implementation of the guidelines, a civil society leadership group called OECD Watch has been created, which consists of 130 different organisations mainly dealing with the environment issues and human rights.
The implementation of the guidelines is also addressed thematically in areas such as digitalisation, exploitation of child labour, climate change and resource extraction/use, sports and corruption, public procurement, gender equality and financial services. If necessary, you can read more specifically on the OECD website.
Digitisation and telecommunications. The OECD Going Digital initiative is designed to analyse and assess the effects of digitisation in various horizontal fields of activity.
The OECD stands for the fact that digitisation, on the one hand, contributes to the improvement of the quality of life and, on the other hand, does not create injustice in society. The activities of the OECD in the field of digital skills and jobs are very important.
The OECD has established indicators that help measure the so-called digital readiness of countries, as well as developed various guidelines (e.g. the OECD Cryptography Policy Guidelines), which are updated on an ongoing basis.
In 2019, OECD members agreed on the Artificial Intelligence Guidelines, which have been followed by many other international organisations, including the European Union.
The E-Leaders cooperation form, chaired by Estonia for the last two years, deals with issues of digitisation of governance, especially in the areas of public sector digital skills, data infrastructure and public procurement. Therefore, the OECD is an excellent platform for introducing, sharing and thus selling Estonia's digital experiences.
On the topics of consumer protection and tourism, experts from member states will present their best practices, and impact studies and analyses will be conducted.
Consumer protection activities focus a lot on consumer rights and product safety. The tourism sector was very strongly affected by the pandemic COVID-19, which is why a lot of issues of mitigating the effects of the crisis have been dealt with recently in the field of tourism.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in goods and services and the development of new sectoral rules are taking place in the World Trade Organisation.
Estonia's participation in the multilateral trade system began with observer status in June 1992 and ended with Estonia becoming a full member of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) on 13 November 1999.
The World Trade Organization was created in 1995 on the basis of the countries that joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The highest executive body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, consisting of representatives of all members, which meets at least once every two years.
In addition to regular meetings of WTO Councils, Committees and Working Groups, Estonia participates in multilateral negotiations (e.g. in agriculture and trade in services) and in the accession process of new members, and fulfils the commitments undertaken upon accession to the WTO. Considering Estonia's trade interests, one important work direction is participation in the negotiations of countries joining the WTO – a large number of these countries are important trade partners for Estonia (especially CIS countries).
In order to realise this possibility, since April 2003, Estonia has participated as an observer in the work of the "Committee 133", which deals with the European Union's external trade, and participates in the work of the WTO accession commissions of countries of interest to us.
As of 1 May 2004, Estonia, as a member of the European Union, participates in the multilateral trade system and the work of the WTO through the structures of the European Union. By joining the European Union, we have taken over all the obligations and rights of the EU in the WTO. The discussions of the EU Council's Trade Policy Committee (TPC, formerly known as "Committee 133") try to find solutions suitable for everyone. Estonia supports a liberal and free trade policy. Estonia's goal in the EU's foreign trade policy is to promote the interests of Estonian entrepreneurs as well as to make the EU function as well as possible in the context of foreign trade.
Last updated: 30.08.2023