Two Bills passed the first reading

NordenBladet —

The Bill on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act and the Nature Conservation Act (392 SE), initiated by the National Defence Committee, passed the first reading. Its aim is to amend the legislation so that a danger area-based danger message could be transmitted not only during emergency response exercises, but also during military trainings, i.e. reservist training, large-scale exercise, and additional reservist training. The additional basis will allow for better preparation for responding to events threatening the life and health of people or national security also in the case when the exercise is organised with the aim of preparing the military defence of the country.

Another important amendment is that, in order to carry out military training more efficiently and to achieve the national defence objective, it will be possible to practice certain real capabilities, such as the installation and removal of engineer bridges on rivers. The Bill will create a legal basis for the Environmental Board to grant consent to the Defence Forces using the limited management zones and building exclusion zones of shores and banks for carrying out reservist trainings.

The purpose of the third amendment is to allow, in the building exclusion zones of shores and banks, the building of construction works that will ensure the national defence objective, as well as to allow, where immovables with waterside construction works are acquired to ensure national defence, owners of such immovables to be offered an exchange of the immovable for an equivalent immovable.

Tiit Maran took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.

The Bill on Amendments to the State Budget Act (391 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee, passed its first reading. It will increase the role of the Riigikogu in making budgetary decisions of constitutional institutions and will avoid a situation where the Government decides on the funding of the independent institutions whose task is to independently control and balance the activities of the executive.

The Bill will create the basis for the budget requests of constitutional institutions to be approved by the Finance Committee of the Riigikogu before a draft state budget is initiated in the Riigikogu. The Government will continue to have the right and obligation to assess the budget request of a constitutional institution. Constitutional institutions will submit budget requests in full to the Finance Committee and the Ministry of Finance, and in the event of disagreements, the Government will submit a dissenting opinion, with justification, to the Finance Committee. The resolution of the Finance Committee and the budget requests of constitutional institutions will be annexed to the explanatory memorandum of the draft state budget.

According to the Constitution, the Riigikogu, the President of the Republic, the National Audit Office, the Chancellor of Justice, and the Supreme Court, as constitutional institutions, are independent in their activities. Independence, as the basis of a democratic state based on the rule of law and the guarantor of the separation of powers, means, in the most general sense, that constitutional institutions must be free from pressure from other branches of government, in particular the executive, in the performance of their functions.

Jaak Aab took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.

Two Bills were dropped from the proceedings at the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Local Government Organisation Act (289 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was dropped from the proceedings. It would enable municipal councils to organise binding referendums and to establish the possibility for local residents to initiate referendums on public initiative.

During the debate, Varro Vooglaid took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party.

The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 48 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 13 were against, and thus the Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.

The Bill on Amendments to the Government of the Republic Act (276 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group,  is intended to amend the Act so that, in respect of members  of the Government, security check would be ensured during the whole period of validity of their permit to access state secrets.

During the debate, Anti Poolamets took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party.

The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 51 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 11 were against, and thus the Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
+372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
maris.meiessaar@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Two Bills passed the first reading

Source: Parliament of Estonia