Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Technology

Photo: valitsus.ee

According to Ratas, Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria "have had frank and honest discussion about where we stand and what we need to do to weather the storms ahead and emerge stronger. It is our shared agenda to find concrete answers to our citizens' most pressing concerns – unemployment, security, immigration – and to bring Europe closer to our citizens," he was quoted by spokespeople as saying.

Ratas said that during its presidency Estonia will focus on fields where Europe's unused opportunities and most important problems that need solutions are hidden, for example, digital and defense cooperation and migration.

The Estonian head of government expressed hope that Estonia's presidency will be remembered as one that allowed Europe to put the crises behind us and once again look optimistically towards our future. 

Ratas acknowledged that no presidency can succeed alone and promised that Estonia will work very closely with the European Parliament to make sure that citizens are at the heart of everything the country does.

Before speaking in the European Parliament, Ratas met with Vice-President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness. At the meeting Ratas introduced Estonia's e-governance and different digital solutions which make people's everyday life easier. They discussed how important online solutions could be implemented more widely in the EU. They also discussed topics regarding security, migration pressure and the future of Europe.