Katrin Höövelson, who served as a policy adviser to the Government Office of Estonia from 2009 to 2012, discusses Estonian adoption of the Europe 2020 strategy in 2010 and the prioritization of Estonian national objectives within that framework. First, she discusses the in-country intensive analysis of the Europe 2020 targets that the Estonian government conducted, as well as other development indicators. Höövelson explains the findings of the analysis and how the results motivated the priorities of the Estonian national reform strategy from the bottom up. Throughout the interview, Höövelson sheds light on the relationship between the Estonian national strategy plan and Europe 2020 strategy: where the two coincided and where Estonia may have diverged from or expanded upon the goals. She also discusses the requirements Estonia must meet as a member of the European Commission, such as the annual measuring and reporting of results to Brussels, where the commission is located. Höövelson concludes by discussing the successes of the Estonian strategy, as well as challenges that lie ahead.
Case Study: Improving Consultation and Cooperation to Create a National Strategy: Drafting Estonia 2020
At the time of this interview, Katrin Höövelson was a European semester officer of the European Commission in Estonia, working on economic issues and Europe 2020. Before that, Höövelson worked with the European Commission in Brussels on employment policies and European Union funding to Estonia. Born in Estonia, Höövelson was with Estonian public administration as head of the labor market department in the ministry of social affairs as well as a policy adviser in the strategy unit. She graduated from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.