Brussels, 23/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to the Belgian Finance Minister, Didier Reynders, who was on visit to the Estonian capital on Wednesday, Tallinn is on the right road in its process aimed at European Union membership. "Estonia has a low budgetary deficit and its public debt is less than 5%), said Estonian Finance Minister Siim Kallas, who added that only interest and inflation rates are higher.
Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar pointed out that his country hoped to close several negotiation chapters before the end of the Belgian Presidency, such as those on justice and home affairs, energy, transport and worker mobility, while others such as customs policy, taxation, competition and budgetary policy are currently in full discussion. The Estonian finance minister considers negotiations on customs policy to be the most arduous, precisely because of Estonia's very open economic policy.