On July 6, the government decided that Nõo municipality and Luunja municipality will continue as independent municipalities. An exception was also made to the town of Loksa already on June 15.
TGS Baltic has been questioning the constitutional aspects of the administrative reform since 2016. Under the leadership of Paul Varul, TGS Baltic represented twenty-three municipalities in the Supreme Court, stating the reform violates the constitutional rights of municipalities in too many points. In December 2016, the Supreme Court made a very favorable decision in the main matter of the Administrative Reform Act, agreeing that the requirement of 5000 inhabitants is not decisive, and there are also other criteria demonstrating administrative capacity.
TGS Baltic will continue to represent the ten municipalities disputing the forced merger decision against the government in the administrative court.
On the same topic
Postimees: New map of Estonia: 15 cities, 64 municipalities
Delfi: The decision has been made: Keila, Nõo and Luunja municipalities will escape the forced merger (in Estonian)
Postimees: Free from forced merger: the government gave Nõo and Luunja independence (in Estonian)
ERR: The government decided that Keila, Nõo and Luunja will escape the forced merger (in Estonian)
Äripäev: Four municipalities will escape the forced merger (in Estonian)
