The Chamber supports amendments that make planning procedures faster and simpler
The Chamber sent its opinion to the Riigikogu Economic Affairs Committee on the draft amendments to the Planning Act and the Building Code, highlighting several positive steps that would make the processing of plans and permits faster and clearer for businesses. In the Chamber’s view, the proposed amendments are moving in the right direction, as they help address a long-standing problem, namely excessively lengthy procedures. The Chamber has previously emphasized the need to establish specific and reasonable deadlines for procedures and sees that the draft contains several steps toward that goal.
Clearer deadlines create certainty
According to the draft, the authority organizing the planning procedure would have the right to set deadlines even in cases where the law does not currently provide for them. The Chamber supports this amendment because the existence of deadlines helps avoid unjustified delays and provides businesses with the necessary legal certainty and predictability. At the same time, the Chamber stresses that the amendment will only be beneficial if the option to set deadlines is also used in practice.
Digital solutions make the procedure more transparent
The Chamber also considers the development of the digital planning procedure environment (PLANIS) to be an important step. A single environment in which all information is centralized and can be monitored in real time will make procedures more transparent and convenient for businesses.
More effective supervision helps prevent delays
The draft gives the Land and Spatial Planning Board the right to monitor whether local governments comply with deadlines. The Chamber supports stronger supervision because this helps ensure that procedures do not drag on without justification. At the same time, the Chamber proposed making supervision even more effective by shortening the deadline for issuing precepts, so that intervention would be faster and supervision itself would not end up delaying the procedure further.
Less bureaucracy and a more flexible procedure
The Chamber also highlights as positive those amendments that reduce excessive bureaucracy. For example, in the future it would no longer be allowed to require a level of detail in a detailed spatial plan that corresponds to the level of a construction design, which has so far made procedures time-consuming and costly.
In addition, a simplified procedure will be created for amending a detailed spatial plan. This will make it possible to introduce smaller changes without restarting the entire process, making the system more flexible and business-friendly.