Estonia has not adopted an Act regulating lobbying activity. Nevertheless, in the session of March 2021, the Government approved the good practice of communication with lobbyists for officials, which applies to members of the management of the ministry, the Secretary of State, and heads of other government authorities and their deputies.
According to it, lobbying is defined as the direct or indirect structured and organised communication of lobbyists with officials (civil servants, policy-makers, or their representatives) to influence policy decisions and protect their interests and lobbyist (including advocate) is either a natural or legal person who, through lobbying, is engaged in standing for interests, whether those of the private sector, the public sector, or any group of society, with or without remuneration.The Good practice provides for a set of principles which the officials shall follows: they shall follow the principles of equal treatment and transparency; they must not accept or ask for any gifts or other benefits from the lobbyist with whom they are in contact; in order to avoid the revolving door effect, if an official has worked as a lobbyist or in the interests of persons represented by a lobbyist immediately before assuming office, they must refrain from actions or decisions regarding the lobbyist or the persons represented by the lobbyist for a year and the official refrains from being employed by a lobbyist or the persons they represent in respect of whom they made direct decisions during their last year in office and refrain from lobbying with regard to their former authority for at least one year after leaving office; they must not enter into a contractual relationship with a lobbyist; they inform the public at least quarterly on the authority’s website of any meeting with stakeholders and lobbyists that takes place in the course of their professional activity (publishing the topic of the meeting; the name and organisation of the lobbyist or the persons they represent; the name of the official; and the date of the meeting).
