Citizen Initiative Portal

By project CIVITEC

Published on 29 January 2025

Estonia

About this good practice

The promoting of submission of collective proposals to Riigikogu (Parliament) was caused by the need to activate the Estonian civil society in decision making process, to ensure that citizens can participate in the political process not only during the parliament elections but continuously every day. Also, there was a need to make as simple as possible for the residents the submission of proposals to local governments.

For this, the portal rahvaalgatus.ee was created by the Estonian Cooperation Assembly in 2016. It enables people to implement their right to submit collective proposals conveniently thus making political decision-making processes more transparent and dialogue more open.

All Estonian residents of at least 16 years of age are the beneficiaries, as they can submit and sign the proposals. The key stakeholders are Parliament and local governments, as they have to process officially the submitted collective proposals.

The developed solutions enables to make proposals to Parliament and local government. For Parliament, the portal enables the public to conveniently realise their right to make collective appeals, thereby making the political decision-making processes of the Riigikogu more transparent and dialogue more open. For local government, people have been able to initiate discussions and make collective appeals to local governments on local government initiative website kohalik.rahvaalgatus.ee.

Expert opinion

This Estonian good practice demonstrates how digital tools can boost everyday civic participation. Launched in 2016, the rahvaalgatus.ee platform allows citizens aged 16+ to submit and sign collective proposals to Parliament and local councils, increasing transparency and engagement beyond elections. With low annual costs and strong institutional backing, the platform has enabled over 550 initiatives and 820,000 signatures. Its success shows how digital democracy can work nationally and locally. While Estonia’s e-signature system is advanced, the core concept is transferable to other contexts with adapted legal and technical frameworks.

Laura Varisco

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

Annual human and financial resources include:
- 1.5 full-time positions; office and administrative expenses; server maintenance and other digital services (EUR 25,528). All of them covered from state budget.
- digital signing of proposals EUR 8,647, covered from donations (EUR 11 730 in 2024).

Evidence of success

Since its’ launch in 2016 until 2024, there have been 751 discussions, 554 initiatives-proposals with 823 727 signatures in total, out of which 158 were officially submitted to Parliament and 99 to local governments. By taking into account the size of Estonia (1,3 million people and 79 local governments), these direct outputs are impressive, with significantly higher number than in the period until 2016 (year of the launch of portal).

Potential for learning or transfer

The platform demonstrates high potential for transfer, though implementation would need to be adapted to local contexts:

- Adaptable Framework - While Estonia's solution relies heavily on digital identity and e-signatures due to its advanced digital infrastructure, the platform's core concepts and workflow can be adapted to work with various authentication methods.
- Legal Foundation - the experience shows the importance of having a clear legal framework before technical implementation.
- Scalability and Flexibility - The system demonstrates how digital democracy tools can function at both local and national levels. The basic model of collecting and processing initiatives can be transferred to various administrative systems.

The key to successful transfer lies not in replicating Estonia's exact technical solution, but in understanding the principles behind it and adapting them to local democratic traditions, legal frameworks, and technical capabilities.