The Riigikogu passed an Act concerning local elections and congregations

Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi presented to the Riigikogu the report for 2025 on the implementation of the long-term national strategy “Estonia 2035”, in the framework of which he also gave an overview of the development trends in the civil service in 2024.

The minister noted that democracy needed protective mechanisms and bearers of continuity, which, in addition to rules and institutions, also included civil servants. “Their professionalism and motivation help ensure that the public tasks assigned to the state and local government are fulfilled and that the state is consistent,” he said. Ligi specified that the civil service made up one fifth of the public sector, 130,000 people. “While there are often big news stories around about how the number of officials keeps on growing, these are poorly informed news stories. The public sector is overwhelmingly composed of non-officials. Nearly 50,000 of these 136,000 are educators; this includes medical professionals, but also electricians, for example. So the word ‘officials’ is being misused when talking about an over-inflated state, which in turn is not true,” he emphasised.

The minister explained that, in 2024, there were 28,456 people in the civil service, of whom 22,787 worked in state institutions and 5,672 in local governments. “The size of the civil service has been fairly stable over the years. But the changes here reflect the overall situation, the security situation, which requires a separate and greater effort. But we have set a goal that the proportion of the civil service in the working-age population would not increase, and it has remained below three percent,” Ligi explained.

The Minister of Finance pointed out that, among other things, cuts were necessary to motivate committed and competent staff. “This means that what is cut from elsewhere is still channelled into motivating people. Since the public sector has higher education requirements compared to the general labour market, the average total salary in the civil service in 2024 is EUR 2,473, which was last year, and that was higher than the Estonian average 1981. However, if we compare jobs of similar complexity in the civil service and the private sector, the higher the rank, the lower the salaries in the civil service compared to the private sector,” he explained.

The minister also spoke about the gender pay gap and composition, human resources policy, recruitment, and creating remote work opportunities, as well as making the state apparatus more efficient. “In summary, it can be said that the health of the civil service is quite good, and our officials are professional. And we need to start having more respect for those people who have decided to serve their country.”

Ligi also gave an overview of the implementation of Estonia’s long-term development strategy in 2024. “Our strategic goal is to ensure security, sustainability, and competitiveness in a rapidly changing world. The Ministry of Finance touches on every horizontal area, from budget and taxes to financial literacy, security, and spatial planning,” Ligi said. He pointed out the ministry’s contribution to developing financial literacy and making the pension system more flexible. The economy and the climate, investments in the updates to tax services and the customs system, expectations for public real estate, the centralisation of state shared services, and the use of European Union structural funds were also discussed. “73 percent of the funds for the period 2021–2027 have now been committed and this reflects our ability to implement the funds in a targeted manner. We are among the best in the European Union again, third after Luxembourg and the Netherlands,” he noted.

Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa), Anti Allas (Social Democratic Party) and Annely Akkermann (Reform Party) took the floor during the debate.

An Act was passed

The Act on Amendments to the Municipal Council Election Act and the Churches and Congregations Act (544 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, postpones the deadlines for the formation of electoral districts for this year’s municipal council elections, taking into account the constitutional amendment adopted in March this year.

The parliament introduced an amendment into the Act, according to which, as an exception, this year electoral districts will be formed by 11 August at the latest and local councils will distribute mandates between electoral districts on the basis of the number of voters according to the population register as of 15 July. Typically, electoral districts are formed no later than the 90th day before election day and mandates are distributed based on the situation as of 1 June.

Another amendment was made to the Act concerning elections which provides that Estonian and EU citizens and stateless residents who are at least 16 years old and whose permanent place of residence is in the respective rural municipality or city would be able participate in the local elections to be held in October this year, and after this year’s elections, only Estonian and EU citizens would have the right to vote. Earlier, the right to participate in local elections extended to third-country nationals who resided in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or the permanent right of residence, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens.

The motion to amend arose from a constitutional amendment adopted by the Riigikogu at the end of March and coming into force in July this year, according to which, this year the right to vote in local elections is revoked for third-country nationals residing in Estonia, and from the next elections after the coming elections, for stateless persons as well. The amendment brought the provisions regulating the right to vote in the Act concerning elections into line with the Constitution.

In addition, the parliament supported the proposal to amend, in the interests of legal clarity, the Churches and Congregations Act, which until now linked the right to be a minister of religion with the right to vote in local elections. The purpose of the amendment introduced into the bill is to avoid the interpretation that the amendments to the Constitution could lead to some ministers of religion being deprived of their rights as ministers of religion. While the Act currently provides that a person who has the right to vote in local elections can be a minister of religion of a religious association, according to the new wording, an adult person with active legal capacity who has a legal basis to stay in Estonia can be minister of religion.

At the final vote, 64 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and six were against.

A Bill passed the second reading

The purpose of the Bill on Amendments to the Hunting Act (553 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, is to give the Environmental Board the right to organise hunting all year round to prevent damage caused by wild game. Under the current Act, the Board can organise hunting outside the hunting season to prevent damage caused by game. However, during the hunting season, the Board cannot currently organise game hunting, including the hunting of problem individuals, after the hunting quota is filled.

The lead committee submitted a motion to amend for the second reading, according to which, if necessary, wounded game could also be tracked outside the hunting area where the wound was inflicted, with a hunting permit issued by the hunting area. When capturing game, monitoring data should also be submitted for only one permit. In this case, the user of the hunting area would have the obligation to ask for the consent of the other hunting area for tracking and killing the game, in order to avoid getting involved in a driven hunt in the other hunting area when tracking the wounded game.

Tiit Maran (Social Democratic Party) and Peeter Ernits took the floor during the debate.

A meeting to establish Saaremaa Support Group on the initiative of Marek Reinaas will be held after the sitting.

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: The Riigikogu passed an Act concerning local elections and congregations

Source: Parliament of Estonia