Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Society

"It was agreed that the main criterion in the administrative reform will be the number of residents, the minimum number being 5,000. Where this 11,000 comes from? It's a political wish of the government for municipalities to not get entangled in meeting the minimum requirement and make a more ambitious step in many places," Aas said.

"The government is ready to support those municipalities that have at least 11,000 residents after mergers," the minister told parliament in question time, adding that he is about to draft relevant proposals in the coming few days.

According to Aas it is rational to conclude the administrative reform in time for the local elections of October 2017. This means that municipalities have time until January 2017 to merge voluntarily and after that the government will be entitled to enact necessary mergers during six months.

Large municipalities of more than 11,000 residents could be established in places where this is rational and geographically and culturally justified, Aas said. "There are very many places where this would be the logical path," he added.