The Riigikogu passed 12 Acts

NordenBladet —

At today’s extraordinary session, the Riigikogu heard the oaths of office of new members who came to the Riigikogu as the Government changed. An extraordinary election of new Vice-Presidents was held, and 12 Acts were passed.

At the beginning of the sitting, Toomas Jürgenstein and Reili Rand took an oath of office. They had not taken an oath of office earlier in this Riigikogu.

The Riigikogu elected Vice-Presidents

The Riigikogu elected Helir-Valdor Seeder the First Vice-President and Martin Helme the Second Vice-President. Deputy Chairman of Faction Isamaa Priit Sibul nominated Seeder as a candidate for a Vice-President, and member of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction Siim Pohlak nominated Helme.

At the secret ballot, 46 members of the Riigikogu supported Seeder and 35 supported Helme. There were three invalid ballot papers on which no name had been marked. A total of 84 members of the Riigikogu participated in the election of Vice-Presidents.

The extraordinary election of the Vice-Presidents of the Riigikogu was held because the sitting Vice-President of the Riigikogu Hanno Pevkur resigned on Friday last week as he became Minister of Defence in the new Government. According to law, Vice Presidents are elected at the same time. Jüri Ratas remains the President of the Riigikogu.

The Riigikogu passed 12 Acts

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Natural Gas Act and Other Acts (596 SE), initiated by the Government. The purpose of the Act is to ensure the resilience of Estonian gas system in the event of prolonged interruptions to gas supply. The Act creates a regulation to ensure the continuity of the gas system and to cover the costs relating to the storage of a strategic gas reserve. According to the Act, from 1 May 2023, the costs of managing the gas reserve will be covered from the stockpiling fee collected from balance providers. The costs of storage for the first year will be covered from the state budget.

The Act also specifies the obligation to coordinate the conditions for the use and the methodology for calculating the tariffs for the use of LNG terminals. The Competition Act is amended by adding a regulation concerning the obligation of LNG terminal operators to contribute to the budget of the Competition Authority as regulated persons.

In addition, the amendments will impose an obligation on possessors of wind power stations to pay a charge to local governments and local residents from 1 July next year to facilitate renewable energy generation. According to an amendment, people residing up to three kilometres away from a land-based wind turbine will begin to receive a charge in an amount of up to six months’ minimum wage. In the case of offshore wind farms, the local government whose coastline is closer than 20 kilometres to a wind farm will receive a charge calculated according to a formula. Fishery undertakings will begin to receive a compensation in the case when their catch diminishes because of a wind power station. The obligation to pay a wind turbine charge will not extend to the wind farms that are already operating.

Kristen Michal from the Reform Party Faction took the floor during the debate.

55 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Act and 18 were against.

The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Public Procurement Act (610 SE), initiated by the Government, which makes amendments that will enable the implementation of the sanctions imposed by the EU. Under an EU sanction, it is prohibited to award any public contract to or continue the execution of any public contract with a person who is a citizen or resident of the Russian Federation or an undertaking established there.

The Act provides that, in the event of doubt, contracting authorities and entities have the right to require additional data and certificates from the economic operators participating in procurement procedures to check that no sanction is involved. The grounds for exclusion and for rejection of tenders is also amended by including both international and Government sanctions. In addition, it will be possible to extraordinarily terminate early the contracts already awarded to which subjects of sanctions are parties.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Citizenship Act (582 SE), initiated by the Government. It gives the Government the right to make a discretionary decision that a person who has acquired Estonian citizenship by naturalisation is deprived of citizenship if he or she enters the public service or military service or a military organisation of a foreign state and if such a service involves a threat to public order or national security. For example, this will enable people who go to fight in Ukraine on the Russian side to be deprived of Estonian citizenship.

According to the Act, a person who has acquired Estonian citizenship by naturalisation may also be deprived of citizenship by the Government in the case when the person is convicted of crimes against humanity or crimes of aggression.

At the same time, according to the Act, the Government has the right to not deprive a person of Estonian citizenship if the person’s service in the foreign country does not endanger Estonia’s security, for example if the person goes to war on the Ukrainian side in order to defend the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Ukrainian state. At the same time, the state does not recommend Estonian citizens to go to fight for any foreign country, as the state cannot ensure protection of Estonian citizens in areas of military conflict.

52 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 17 voted against.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Population Register Act (609 SE), initiated by the Government. It allows local governments to terminate the validity of the data on residence of a person who has left Estonia if his or her address had been entered in the register to an accuracy of city and city district or rural municipality. The local authority will have to establish beforehand that the person is not residing in its territory or anywhere else in Estonia and identify that no data of the person’s place of stay, for example, a social welfare institution, has been entered in the register.

According to the explanatory memorandum, there have been cases where local governments have hesitated whether to enter the data on residence of Ukrainian war refugees into the register to an accuracy of local government, as under the current Act it is impossible later to terminate the validity of such data if no new notice of residence is submitted, even if it can be presumed that the person has left Estonia. The Act gives local governments the relevant right which applies to war refugees as well as to everyone else whose place of residence is registered to an accuracy of local government.

50 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 17 were against, and there was one abstention.

The Riigikogu passed with 68 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the State Borders Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (630 SE), initiated by Faction Isamaa and the Government. Its aim is to ensure the protection of public order and national security in a mass immigration emergency, at the same time taking into account the provisions of EU and international law as well as case law.

The Act provides that, in the event of a threat to public order or national security, the Police and Border Guard Board may, in emergencies caused by mass immigration, refuse to accept an application for international protection from an alien who has crossed the external border illegally and send them back without issuing a precept to leave or making a decision on prohibition on entry. Immediate removal of an alien who has come across the border illegally is permitted only in the event of a threat to public order or national security and on the condition that they have not used the option of entering Estonia legally, that is, through an open border crossing point.

According to the Act, the Police and Border Guard Board may designate border crossing points where applications for international protection are registered. In an emergency, the Police and Border Guard Board may refuse to accept applications submitted outside such locations. At the same time, the Act provides that, in a mass immigration emergency, in the event of a threat to public order or national security, an alien who submits an application at a designated location may also be deemed to be an applicant for international protection. The Act also provides that the Police and Border Guard Board can allow an alien to Estonia for humane considerations.

Among other things, the Act provides for more flexible involvement of the Defence Forces and the Defence League in situations where the resources of the Police and Border Guard Board are insufficient. Currently, the Defence Forces or the Defence League can be involved in prevention and obstruction of an illegal crossing of the state border or a temporary control line for a period not exceeding 30 days, but if a need arises to extend the involvement in a changed security situation it will be possible to do this by 30 days as a maximum in the future.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Cybersecurity Act and Other Acts (531 SE), initiated by the Government, under which the Government will be authorised to establish, by a Regulation, the requirements necessary to ensure the cybersecurity of systems, and the new Estonian Information Security Standard (E-ITS) will be part of them. The Act also regulates the nomination of the national cybersecurity industrial, technology and research coordination centre and the organisation of its tasks, and defines the national cybersecurity certification authority, its supervisory powers and the liability relating to breach of the certification requirements.

Under the amendments made before the second reading, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority will have the right to eliminate or restrict access to the information disseminated to the public through an information society service. The restriction of information is allowed only in the case when it incites hatred, violence or discrimination because of citizenship, ethnic origin, language, religion or other circumstances. At the same time, it is allowed to restrict access to the information disseminated to the public through an information society service in the case when the information incites war or justifies war crimes. In the amendment, the possibility of restricting information is further restricted by the condition that the restriction of information inciting hatred must be necessary to ensure national security.

The purpose of the amendment is to ensure domestically the existence of measures with which it is possible to restrict content that propagates war and incites hatred, which is used within the framework of informational influence activities directed against Estonia to shape the attitudes of the people residing or staying in Estonia.

51 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 17 were against.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Government of the Republic Act and Other Acts (reorganisation of the National Centre for Defence Investments into a governmental authority) (590 SE), initiated by the Government, under which the division of tasks in the area of government of the Ministry of Defence is changed and the National Centre for Defence Investments will be reorganised into a governmental authority. The purpose of the amendments is to consolidate the administration of the assets necessary for national defence and the ensurance of the functional capacity of the construction works that serve national defence purposes into a single whole.

In order to ensure more effective independent defence capability, the functions and the exercise of supervision related to the duties imposed in the interests of national defence will be transferred from the Defence Resources Agency to the National Centre for Defence Investments. The acts relating to the ensurance of the functional capacity of the construction works that serve national defence purposes will be transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the National Centre for Defence Investments.

The Defence Resources Agency, which so far engaged with the resources necessary for national defence, including the imposition of duties on assets and resources necessary for national defence, will be organising only the services and tasks related to human resources in the future. According to the Act, the Ministry of Defence, which thus far has been performing the acts relating to the ensurance of the functional capacity of the construction works that serve national defence purposes, including the approval of spatial plans and the Earth’s Crust Act, will be focusing mainly on shaping the sectoral policy and on capability planning. Since the functions to be transferred are connected with the exercise of public authority, the National Centre for Defence Investments will be reorganised from an administered state agency into a governmental authority.

In addition, the Act will allow for more flexible and faster transfer of or grant of temporary use of state assets to authorities who need them for the resolution of an emergency, increased defence readiness or a state of war, or for supporting a mobilisation or a demobilisation or for the organisation thereof.

52 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Act, and there was one abstention.

The Riigikogu passed with 71 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Performing Arts Institutions Act and the National Opera Act (419 SE), initiated by the Government. It will make the funding of performing arts institutions clearer and more flexible and will update the working processes of performing arts institutions.

The purpose of the Act is to better support the diversity of the performing arts institutions sector and the availability of performing arts across Estonia. The amendments will reduce the obligations and administrative burden of performing arts institutions. At the same time, all organisers of public performances and concerts will have an additional obligation to disclose information on the accessibility of performances and concerts and their venues to people with special needs. The amendment of the Act will affect all performing arts institutions in Estonia, which number about 50.

In order that it would not become complicated for residents to acquire theatre tickets, performing arts institutions will be supported from the state budget in the future as well, and this will also be done in the case of municipal and private performing arts institutions, besides performing arts institutions operating as foundations established by the state. According to the amendments made during the second reading, when granting subsidies to performing arts institutions, the volume of work relating to the creative activity of a performing arts institution will also be used as a reference unit in order to ensure that the subsidies granted to performing arts institutions will be mutually comparable as units. The more detailed description of the funding system will be provided for by a regulation of a minister, in order that it would be easier to keep the regulation up to date.

The list of the objectives for subsidising performing arts institutions was amended as well. According to the Act, the objective for subsidising municipal performing arts institutions and private performing arts institutions will be to ensure the diversity of the performing arts sector and regional availability of performances. During the second reading, the objective of the promotion of national culture was added. During the proceedings, a provision was also included under which the body granting the subsidy will form a committee for the allocation of the subsidy granted to performing arts institutions from the state budget.

In addition, an amendment was made that will allow the director of a performing arts institution to be appointed without competition for up to one year if a vacant position of the director of a performing arts institution operating as a foundation cannot be filled under public competition for a good reason.

Üllar Saaremäe from Faction Isamaa took the floor during the debate.

The Riigikogu passed with 72 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Criminal Records Database Act, the Penal Code and the Child Protection Act (581 SE), initiated by the Government. The purpose of the Act is to enhance the control over the people to whom the prohibition on working with children is applied, that is, who are not allowed to work with children because of the offences they have committed.

According to the Act, in the future, checks on whether a person is allowed to work with children will have to be carried out at the time of hiring, as well as once every 12 months. Systematic failure to comply with the obligation to carry out the checks will be punishable under misdemeanour procedure, and a legal person may be imposed a fine of up to 32,000 euro for failing to carry out the checks. The amendments also give the legal representatives of children the right to check with a query, without having to pay a state fee, if, for example, the person to be employed as a child carer is allowed to work with children.

The Act also updates the list of offences in the case of which the names of the persons punished for such offences are not replaced by initials or letter combinations in court decisions, as well as the list of offences in the case of which the persons punished for such offences are not allowed to work with children. Besides that, the Act resolves a legal impediment that prevents imposing the supervision of conduct after service of sentence on persons who fail to inform the court of their place of residence.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Imprisonment Act and the Probation Supervision Act (580 SE), initiated by the Government. The Act specifies the provisions relating to the organisation of work of the prison service with a view to organising the work of the prison service more flexibly where necessary. This means, for example, the possibility of organising some of prison’s tasks through a central structural unit or place of service.

The amendments will give the Minister of Justice more opportunities to organise the work of the prison system and to allocate the tasks provided for by law. The Act also updates the provisions on service law in the Imprisonment Act and eliminates specifications where it is more expedient to follow the Civil Service Act.

54 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 18 were against.

The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Law Enforcement Act, the Child Protection Act and the Act on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Precursors thereof (573 SE), initiated by the Government. According to the Act, a new government committee, a prevention council, will be formed of the Child Protection Council, the Offence Prevention Council and the Government Committee on Drug Prevention for better coordination of cross-sectoral prevention. At present, the prevention of offences and risk behaviour is fragmented, and the resource is directed particularly at the consequences of risk behaviour.

The prevention council will begin to manage cross-sectoral prevention, which will involve the development of purposeful prevention policies and the organisation of cooperation on prevention between ministries and other partners. The function of the council will be to strategically prioritise, set the directions of and coordinate cross-sectoral activities in organising drug, criminal and child protection policies, including advising the Government on these issues.

The Riigikogu also passed the Act on Amendments to the Government of the Republic Act (595 SE), initiated by the Government. It updates the regulations relating to the Government. The Act organises the restrictions on activities in place for members of the Government for the time they are in office and explicitly prohibits members of the Government to be members of the management boards and supervisory boards of public limited companies, private limited companies and commercial associations.

Under a new restriction, a member of the Government may not, within half a year after he or she is released from office, act as a member of the management or controlling body in a legal person governed by private law that falls within the area of government of the ministry he or she has been directing if, during his or her term of office, he or she has made decisions with a significant impact concerning the activities of the legal person or if the legal person has contractual relationships with the ministry he or she has been directing.

Under the amendments, no dwelling provided by the employer will be granted to members of the Government anymore. According to the Act, from 2023, this will be substituted with a possibility to receive a housing expenses allowance to the extent of up to 15 per cent of the salary in the case when a minister is residing outside the municipality that is the location of the ministry or the municipalities bordering on it. Thus, the regulation will become more similar to the compensation of housing expenses for members of the Riigikogu. The payment of the compensation paid upon termination of the authority of a member of the Government will also change. The Act amends the bases in the case of which no compensation is paid and makes the amount of the compensation dependent on the time served as a member of the Government.

In addition, the Act specifies the tasks of the Government Office, and the employment contracts of heads of administered state authorities entered into for an unspecified term are made employment contracts entered into for a specified term.

53 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 16 were against.

The sitting ended at 10.50 a.m.

Source: Parliament of Estonia