Peer review report: Estonia 2016

This peer review of disaster risk management and civil protection systems provides Estonia with a unique opportunity to reflect on its readiness to cope with natural hazards and human-induced disasters and to identify ways of strengthening its prevention and preparedness policy and practices. It also facilitates the exchange of good practices. The peer review programme is a tool made available to civil protection authorities of Member States, participating states, enlargement and neighbourhood countries under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism legislation. It is managed by the Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department.

This report of Estonia's Disaster Risk Management (DRM) system demonstrates strong coordination, stakeholder engagement, and a decentralized approach that leverages national legislation and international partnerships. To build on these strengths, Estonia could enhance resilience by adopting a national communication strategy to boost public risk awareness, improving coordination between government levels to clarify crisis management roles, linking risk assessments with budgeting priorities for better financial planning, and establishing systematic data sharing through a centralized database for risk assessments and response information.