NordenBladet — Today, members of the Riigikogu tested the technical solution created to conduct a sitting with distance participation; this would allow participation at the sitting by electronic means without being physically present in the Riigikogu Plenary Hall.

The President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas was happy to see the system function. “This is a big step forward in case we cannot meet and must switch to telework,” Põlluaas said. “The first trial with the participation of representatives from all the political groups also revealed some shortcomings that must be addressed. The key to a successful sitting with distance participation is first and foremost internet connection.”

Põlluaas explained that holding a sitting with distance participation is something that the Board of the Riigikogu would decide for compelling reasons. The relevant procedure is being developed and has been sent to every political group to invite proposals.

Convening a sitting with distance participation follows the procedure for extraordinary sessions; the President of the Riigikogu notifies the MPs via mass media at least three days before the scheduled sitting. Shorter notice is allowed in case of compelling reasons.

Administrative Director of the Chancellery of the Riigikogu Ahto Saks explained that a completely new and unique platform had been created to carry out telesittings, and that this had been integrated with the existing voting information system. “A member of the Riigikogu can do everything exactly as if they were sitting in the Hall,” Saks said. “This ensures the opportunity to follow sittings from a distance, submit draft legislation, present reports, ask oral questions, make comments, protest, and vote.”

Concerning the security of the sitting, Saks said that a member of the Riigikogu uses electronic means of identification known only to themselves, and that every member of the Riigikogu has the duty to ensure voting privacy. “Online participant receives an image with minimum delay into their device. The same image is displayed to the chair of the sitting and transmitted in live broadcast,” Saks said.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act (176 SE) in May to allow sittings with distance participation, and the Act came into force in June.

NordenBladet — This year, the Baltic Assembly (BA) Prize in Arts was awarded to meditative documentary essay “Bridges of Time” (2018) by Kristīne Briede and Audrius Stonys, which was co-produced by Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian studios and portrays the less-remembered generations of cinema poets of the Baltic New Wave.

President of the Baltic Assembly and Head of the Estonian Delegation to the Baltic Assembly Aadu Must said that awarding of the Baltic Assembly Prizes each year provided an excellent opportunity to assess and promote the best achievements in literature, the arts and science in the three Baltic States. “The documentary “Bridges of Time” is the best example of the close and extremely fruitful cooperation of the three countries,” Must added.

The BA Prize in Literature was awarded to Lithuanian novelist, poet and essayist Birutė Jonuškaitė for her novel cycle “Maranta” and “Maestro”.

The Baltic Assembly Prize in Science was awarded to Dr. Roberts Eglītis for his work cycle “Theoretical predictions of new materials for energy storage and harvesting”.

The Baltic Assembly Prize consists of a monetary prize, a certificate and a statuette.

The members of the Joint Jury of the BA Prizes were outstanding specialists in the fields of literature, the arts and science from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Baltic Assembly has been awarding the Prizes in literature, the arts and science since 1994. The aim of the prizes is to promote outstanding achievements and to support the development of these fields in the Baltic States. Creation of opportunities to learn about the achievements of neighbouring countries, demonstrating the mutual interest of the countries in this region to uphold their national identity and self-esteem, and supporting outstanding achievements in literature, the arts and science strengthens the cooperation between the Baltic States and encourages people’s interest in the intellectual values and languages of the Baltic nations.

NordenBladet — Today the Riigikogu passed an Act obligating the state to improve energy efficiency so as to aim to decrease energy consumption regardless of levels of economic growth.

86 members of the Riigikogu voted for the passing of the Act.

The Act on Amendments to the Energy Sector Organisation Act and the Natural Gas Act (202 SE), initiated by the Government, transposes new obligations arising from the relevant European Union directive that will help achieve the European Union’s long-term targets in the reduction of energy use. The directive provides for progress towards the Energy Union, under which energy efficiency is to be treated as an energy source in its own right.

The Act specifies that the national energy efficiency target will be set at Government level together with policy measures supporting it and the energy efficiency obligation distribution plan.

It is intended to regulate the metering of the consumption of heating, cooling and domestic hot water by final users in buildings, and the billing relating thereto. In order to transfer completely to remote reading of heat by 1 January 2027, the energy supplier will need to install only remotely readable heat meters. The installation of apartment-based final users’ heat meters in multi-apartment buildings is necessary where this is cost-effective and technically feasible. Starting from 25 October 2020, final users will have to be given extensive comparative information upon billing for heat with the aim that consumers will be able to change their behaviour.

A Bill passed the first reading:

The Bill on Amendments to the Place Names Act (208 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Eerik-Niiles Kross, Tarmo Kruusimäe, Üllar Saaremäe, Urmas Kruuse and Kaja Kallas, will specify the establishment of place names.

Under the Bill, it will not be permitted to use as place names the names of persons whose activities have been incompatible with the history and culture of Estonia. At the same time, the Bill will specify the role of the Place Names Board and the relevant minister in the establishment of conformity of place names, and will set the time limits for bringing Estonian place names into conformity with the law.

The explanatory memorandum notes that the Place Names Act in force in Estonia does not allow place names that are incompatible with the history and culture of Estonia. At present, however there is no intelligible mechanism to identify such incompatibility and to bring place names into conformity with the Place Names Act.

Katri Raik (Social Democratic Party) took the floor during the debate.