Government of Estonia

The Government of the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus) is the cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia.

Government of Republic of Estonia
Estonian: Eesti Vabariigi valitsus
Overview
Established	24 February 1918
Dissolved	suspended from 17 June 1940 – 21 August 1991 (de facto)
State	Republic of Estonia
Leader	Prime Minister of Estonia
Appointed by	President of Estonia
Main organ	Government Office of Estonia
Headquarters	Rahukohtu 3, 15161 Tallinn, Estonia
Website	www.valitsus.ee/en

Politics of Estonia
State Constitution Declaration of Independence Human rights
Presidency President Alar Karis
Executive Prime Minister Kaja Kallas Government of Estonia Incumbent cabinet
Legislature Riigikogu Speaker: Lauri Hussar
Judiciary Supreme Court Chancellor of Justice
Elections Political parties Recent elections Riigikogu: 2015 2019 2023 Presidential: 2011 2016 2021 Municipal: 2009 2013 2017 European: 2014 2019 2024
Administrative divisions Counties Municipalities
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Politics of the European Union
Estonia portal Other countries

The cabinet carries out the country's domestic and foreign policy, shaped by parliament (Riigikogu); it directs and co-ordinates the work of government institutions and bears full responsibility for everything occurring within the authority of executive power. The government, headed by the Prime Minister, thus represents the political leadership of the country and makes decisions in the name of the whole executive power.

The following duties are attributed to the cabinet by the Constitution of Estonia:[1]

1. executes the domestic and foreign policies of the state;
2. directs and co-ordinates the activities of government agencies;
3. administers the implementation of laws, resolutions of the Riigikogu (Parliament), and legislation of the President of the Republic of Estonia;
4. introduces bills, and submits international treaties to the Riigikogu for ratification and denunciation;
5. prepares the draft of the state budget and submits it to the Riigikogu, administers the implementation of the state budget and presents a report on the implementation of the state budget to the Riigikogu;
6. issues regulations and orders on the basis of and for the implementation of law;
7. manages relations with other states;
8. performs other duties which the Constitution and the laws vest in the Government of the Republic.

Unlike other cabinets in most other parliamentary regimes, the Government is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Estonia. In most other parliamentary regimes, the head of state is usually the nominal chief executive, though bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Estonia, however, the Constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Government, not the President.