Education and Science, Estonia, Legislation

The City Government noted that the Constitution provides that in imposing additional tasks on local governments, the State is obliged to guarantee the necessary revenue base for meeting the said obligations.

The objective of the complaint submitted to the court is to guarantee that local governments would have sufficient funds for meeting the additional obligations imposed on them in the new Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act.

Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Yana Toom stated that simultaneously with adopting the new law on schools, the State should have also adopted the relevant regulations for covering the extra expenses imposed on the city. “The State has not done so, however,” she remarked. Toom explained that the complaint submitted to the court is not aimed at being released from the obligation to fulfil the local governments’ duties as provided in the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act but to guarantee sufficient financing for the tasks.