Members of the Estonian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Heljo Pikhof and Sven Sester will observe the Kyrgyzstan parliamentary elections in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, this Sunday.
“Great changes have taken place in Kyrgyzstan during the last months,” member of the delegation Heljo Pikhof said. “This year alone, two referendums have been held in the country. The changes that have been undertaken are paving the way towards a presidential system of government,” Pikhof said. She added that the task of the elections observers was to give an honest and impartial assessment to the elections.
Sven Sester thinks that the parliamentary elections this Sunday will be a crucial moment in the governance of Kyrgyzstan. “The extent of this observation mission shows that the international community is closely monitoring the direction of the changes undertaken in Kyrgyzstan, and the correctness and transparency in conducting the forthcoming elections,” Sester added.
More than 60 members of national parliaments from 21 countries will observe the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the mission organised by the OSCE PA. In total, over 300 observers will participate in the mission. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has previously observed 13 elections and referenda in the Kyrgyz Republic, most recently the presidential election in January 2021.
Election observation missions have been an important part of OSCE’s activities since 1993. The missions monitor whether the elections are conducted legitimately and respect the democratic standards. Observers also assess how earlier election-related recommendations have been implemented in the country.
For more information, please contact: Heljo Pikhof +372 511 9637 Sven Sester +372 504 9222
Speaker of the Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland) Anu Vehviläinen is on a one-day visit to Estonia today on the invitation of President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas.
In the morning, the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament will have a meeting with the President of the Riigikogu at Toompea and sign the Riigikogu guest book. Deputy Chair of the Estonia-Finland Parliamentary Friendship Group Sven Sester and members of the group Urve Tiidus and Aivar Sõerd will also meet with the Speaker of the Eduskunta.
After that, there will be a meeting with President Alar Karis in Kadriorg. In the afternoon, the Speaker of the Eduskunta will meet with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets.
Speaker of the Eduskunta Anu Vehviläinen and Vice-President of the Riigikogu Hanno Pevkur will also attend the memorial service at the graves of the Soldiers of Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 at Metsakalmistu cemetery.
Members of the Estonian Delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) participate in the 143rd Assembly of the IPU, held in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The main focus of the Assembly will be on challenges to democracy, like overcoming division and protecting freedom of speech.
Head of the Estonian Delegation Toomas Kivimägi will say in in his speech that the parliaments are the keepers and promoters of democracy. “Without democracy, it is extremely complicated to keep peace, sustainable development, the rule of law and respect for human rights,” Kivimägi notes. “In the midst of the pandemic, migration and other crises, democracy is facing a crisis of confidence.”
Kivimägi underlines that it is important that the fundamental values of democracy and human rights be not neglected even in the changed circumstances. “On the border of Belarus, the lives of people are put in danger by using them as a human shield. Such behaviour cannot be tolerated in the 21st century Europe, or in the rest of the world, and it must be firmly condemned,” Kivimägi emphasised.
The Head of Delegation will also speak about the importance of increasing voter turnout, because participation in elections is one of the cornerstones of democracy. In this context, Kivimägi highlights the Estonian e-elections, which, according to him, help to increase the participation of young voters in particular.
The Estonian Delegation to the 143rd Assembly of the IPU consists of Head of the Delegation Toomas Kivimägi and members of the Delegation Helmen Kütt and Marika Tuus-Laul.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is the oldest and largest organisation of parliaments in the world. It was established in 1889, and it has 179 member states from the entire world. Estonia was a member of the Union between 1921–1940, and restored its membership after regaining independence in 1991.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas and Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen met with the Presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly of France today in Paris. The key topics discussed at the meetings were the changed security situation, the preventing of illegal immigration, the future of the European Union and the strengthening of parliamentary cooperation.
At the meeting with President of the Senate of France Gérard Larcher, President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas said that, as members of the European Union and NATO, the Baltic States shared common values, interests and goals. “We stand united in defending democracy, fighting against terrorism and strengthening security both in Europe and on missions beyond its borders. We are allies,” Ratas said.
At the meeting with President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand, Ratas stated that the relations between Estonia and France had been strong in politics, economy and culture already since 1921, when new states emerged in Europe from the ashes of World War I. He recalled that the cooperation that had been interrupted during the period of occupation had been revived 30 years ago, and emphasised the defence cooperation.
At the meeting, Ratas thanked France for their contribution to European security and enhancing the deterrence posture of our region, and emphasised cooperation with France in strengthening global security. “Today, the security threat in our region has increased, and therefore our Eastern partners, who are under the pressure from Russia, need more attention from our allies,” Ratas said.
During the discussion of issues relating to Russia and Belarus, Ratas underlined that the Member States of the EU must remain united. “The hybrid attack organised by Belarus is not targeted only against the Baltic States and Poland, it is against the eastern border of the European Union and NATO,” Ratas said and added that the EU had to find finances for strengthening it borders. “We must also not forget what is happening in Ukraine at the same time, and we must understand that at the moment there is no sign of any positive steps being taken by Russia to comply with the Minsk Agreements, therefore the European Union’s sanctions against Russia have to continue.”
The issues relating to the relations between the EU and China, cybersecurity and digital services of the government, climate change, energy security, Eastern Partnership, the priorities of France during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the future of the EU were also discussed at the meetings. All parties also gave an overview of the fight against the COVID crisis, the restrictions and the situation with vaccination in their countries.
The visit of the Baltic Speakers to Paris was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between France and the Baltic States, and to the 30th anniversary of restoration of the independence of Baltic States. Latvia was represented by the Ambassador.
At today’s remote-participation sitting of the Riigikogu, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas gave an overview of the activities of the Government in implementing the European Union policy. Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Siim Kallas also made a report.
In her speech, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that Estonia and the European Union were directly interconnected in their development. “If Europe is strong, Estonia is strong as well, and vice versa,” she said.
“Estonia is consistently standing for European values and is working to ensure that the European Union’s voice in the world is influential and unified. It is important to Estonian people and businesses that Estonia stands for the four fundamental freedoms and the internal market of the European Union and continues to stand for the fifth fundamental freedom, the free movement of data, because data make up the core of the twin transition. Estonia supports an ambitious digital and green transition. Attention should also be paid to the social aspects of the transition so that, in the midst of it all, we would not forget the people and would not leave anyone behind or run over anyone while carrying out the changes,” Kallas said. “The European Union is and will remain above all a guarantee of peace and security. For me, the most important keywords for the forthcoming period are trust and reliability.”
When speaking of the pressure on the European Union borders, the Prime Minister said that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia were defending the border of Europe. “The European Union cannot submit to the blackmail of a dictator and the hybrid attack must be stopped decisively. Europe must act as one here, and Belarus must let the people, who are being used as weapons, to return to their countries of origin,” Kallas emphasised. “The use of migration as a weapon in both south and east has made the European Union finally to reassess the need regarding common border standards and investments in its external border.”
Prime Minister pointed out that, thirty years into the process, Estonia was catching up with the European Union average. “Our superpower has been our ability to not to use the word ‘impossible’, be it the European Union, the euro area, accession to NATO or anything else,” she said. “This superpower has brought us to this day and will take us forward as well.”
The Prime Minister also touched upon the issue of green transition and spoke of the development and role of digital technology as well as energy. “We are developing the Gulf of Riga wind farm in Estonian-Latvian cooperation and in a longer-term perspective we wish to see both an electricity network encompassing the Baltic Sea countries and a pan-European hydrogen network,” Kallas said, looking into the future.
In the Prime Minister’s words, the European Union is just as active as we want it to be and Estonia is committed to ensuring that the EU is a strong, developing and growing organism, and Estonia is its influential member.
When summarising the work of the European Union Affairs Committee in participating in EU decision-making processes, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Siim Kallas said that, over the year, the committee had shaped Estonia’s positions on 49 European Union initiatives, approved the positions for 107 meetings of the Council of the European Union, conducted four parliamentary debates, held nine joint sittings with other committees during the year, and recently initiated a deliberation of a matter of significant national importance on climate targets in the plenary hall.
Kallas pointed out that Europe was facing several challenges and emphasised that addressing those challenges required a joint effort of Member States.
The Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee spoke of ensuring European security. “The Schengen system is a main pillar of European security. On the one hand, it means a large set of benefits – the enabling of free movement of people and goods. During the pandemic, this system was badly damaged,” Kallas said. “On the basis of the experience from the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission is planning to submit a new proposal to amend the Schengen Borders Code by the end of this year.”
In Kallas’s words, currently the main challenge for European security is illegal immigration and a hybrid attack from the east. He noted that enhancing the cooperation between international information collections helps both strengthen the Schengen system and fight illegal immigration. “Let us add here more effective protection of external borders in cooperation of the Member States and extending the possibilities of the border guard agency Frontex,” Kallas said. He also underlined the importance of cybersecurity.
When speaking of the importance of the digital sector, Kallas said that it provided both opportunities and challenges. In his words, the digital certificate that has been quickly established at Union level and has been put into operation successfully is an excellent example of cooperation between Member States. “The European Commission submitted the legislative proposal in March and already three months later the certificate was in use. It has been a real success story, and with its help we have regained many of our freedoms within the Union,” Kallas noted. “The format established is becoming a success globally as well by now. More than 600 million certificates have been issued already. Besides the European Union, 49 countries on four continents are participating in the system, and dozens more have submitted a relevant application.”
In his speech, the chairman of the committee also focused on the situation of the European Union’s finances. “By October this year, inflation in the euro area had risen to four per cent. We together with many other countries have survived much higher inflations in the past, but this is still worryingly higher than the two per cent prescribed to the euro area by the Stability and Growth Pact,” Kallas said. He noted that, in simple terms, it could be said that 15.2 trillion euro was circulating in the European economy. He added that, during the pandemic, a lot of money had been put into circulation to mitigate the crisis. “The budget support measures have increased the deficit and the debt level in all Member States. In my view, it is important to stick to the agreed goal of sustainable public finances and to return to the budget rules in the forthcoming years,” Kallas underlined.
In his speech, Kallas also touched on achieving the European climate target and the Conference on the Future of Europe. The European Union Affairs Committee is participating in the plenary meetings of the Conference with a four-member delegation.
During the debate, Mihhail Lotman (Isamaa), Oudekki Loone (Centre Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Riina Sikkut (Social Democratic Party) took the floor. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also made her closing remarks.
A draft Resolution was dropped from the proceedings
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to urgently construct a physical barrier on the temporary control line in South-East Estonia to prevent illegal migration” (435 OE), submitted by the Faction Isamaa, was intended to make a proposal to the Government to urgently construct a physical barrier on the temporary control line in South-East Estonia to prevent illegal migration and to plan funds for that in the state budget for 2022 and the state budget strategy for the following years.
During the debate, Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Hanno Pevkur (Reform Party) and Riho Breivel (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
27 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 26 voted against. For the draft Resolution to be passed, at least 51 members of the Riigikogu should have voted for it.
The deliberation of a draft Resolution was adjourned
The deliberation of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic (428 OE), submitted by the Social Democratic Party Faction, was adjourned due to the end of the working hours of the sitting. The draft Resolution is intended to make a proposal to the Government to compensate to Elering Ltd the costs of the payment of the renewable energy charge for 2021 to the full extent in order that it would be possible to temporarily release all electricity consumers from the renewable energy charge.
The proceedings of the Bill will continue at tomorrow’s sitting.
The deliberation of the Bill on Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act and the Taxation Act (403 SE) and the Bill on Amendments to the Health Insurance Act (467 SE), initiated by the Government, was also transferred to the agenda for tomorrow’s sitting due to the end of the working hours of the sitting.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas together with the Speaker of the Parliament of Lithuania is on a visit to Paris, France. The visit is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between France and the Baltic States, and to the 30th anniversary of restoration of the independence of Baltic States. The Speakers will also discuss the latest foreign and security policy issues and allied relations.
This morning, President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas and Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen will visit the Senate of France.
The key challenges and priorities of the European Union relating to the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be discussed at the meeting held in the afternoon at the National Assembly of France. Security cooperation in NATO, ensuring the security of the Baltic States and operations against terrorism will be spoken about as well.
The Speakers will also discuss issues relating to Russia and Belarus and the Eastern Partnership, as well as the Indo-Pacific strategy and the strategy towards China.
“We, the Speakers of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia state that the aggressive actions of the illegitimate Lukashenka regime have reached an unprecedented level. They provoke the crisis at the external borders of the EU, threaten the security of the entire region and deliberately endanger the lives of vulnerable people.
It constitutes a breach of international law, political commitments and a disregard for fundamental human rights;
strongly condemn the continued state-sponsored instrumentalisation of irregular migration artificially created by the Belarusian regime as part of hybrid operations against Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the EU for political purposes;
call upon the international community, especially the countries of transit and origin, to strongly oppose these actions, to take the necessary steps to stop the authorities in Belarus from forcing migrants to illegally cross the EU border and to hold the Belarus regime accountable for these violations;
condemn the actions of the illegitimate Lukashenka regime which result in preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid offered by neighbouring countries to migrants gathered and held by the Lukashenka regime in areas adjacent to the border;
call for the prompt implementation of the new package of sanctions agreed upon during the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union, targeting persons and entities involved in and contributing to activities of the Lukashenka regime aimed at facilitating illegal crossing of the external borders of the Union. Instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes cannot be tolerated. If it will continue the European Union should consider further restrictive measures against Belarusian regime in line with its gradual approach;
underline that the responsibility for normalizing the situation at the border rests squarely with the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenka, while the EU and its Member states should continue to be guided by the joint decisions and political stance adopted by the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Council;
are firmly convinced that there is an urgent need to adapt the EU acquis to the new realities in order to ensure strong protection of the EU external border and provide effective measures to prevent illegal border crossings. Therefore, we look forward to the proposals of the European Commission to adapt the EU’s legal framework with specific measures and adequate financial support to improve border security thus bolstering EU’s external frontier.”
At today’s remote-participation sitting of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will give an overview of the activities of the Government in implementing the European Union policy. Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Siim Kallas will also present a report. His speech will focus on ensuring the security of Europe and situation of the Union’s finances.
In the opinion of Siim Kallas, the EU is facing several challenges, and the key to solving them lies in acting together and in unity.
Chairman of the Committee will speak of the activities of the European Union in ensuring security. He will also discuss the impact of the pandemic on the Schengen system and the changes that will be made to the Border Code. Kallas points out that better cooperation of databases between countries and better protection of the EU’s external borders will also help to fight illegal immigration.
Kallas will also focus on the issues of cybersecurity, protectionism and digitalisation. He thinks that the digital certificate is an excellent example of cooperation between Member States. It was created at the Union level and made to work effectively, and dozens of countries across the world have joined it or plan to join it.
The budget and economic policy of the EU, which this year has been strongly influenced by responding to the pandemic, will also be among the topics Kallas will discuss. Besides that, he will speak of the climate target of the European Union and the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The discussion of the activities of the Government in implementing of the European Union policies will begin at 10 a.m. It will be live streamed on the website of the Riigikogu.
At the public video sitting today at 2 p.m., the European Union Affairs Committee and the State Budget Control Select Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) will be given an overview of the 2020 annual report of the European Court of Auditors, which will be presented by Member of the European Court of Auditors Juhan Parts.
The European Court of Auditors monitors the implementation of the budget of the European Union and the lawfulness of the use of the funds.
Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Siim Kallas said that, last year, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly had a significant impact on the Union’s finances. “It is already known today that this impact will continue also in the coming years. Member States have agreed to create a COVID-19 recovery instrument, which will be financed by issuing the EU bonds,” Kallas said. He added that in the coming years, the expenses of the EU would nearly double. “Keeping in mind the increase of expenses and fight against the pandemic, it is of utmost importance to effectively control the use of EU funds and the achievement of intended results,” Kallas underlined.
According to the report of the European Court of Auditors, the revenues of the European Union for the previous year were legal and regular, and not affected by material error. The overall level of error for expenditure from the EU budget of 2020 was 2.7 %, which is the same as the year before.
The proportion of high-risk expenditure in the audit population has further increased and represented 59% of audited spending (last year it was 53%). The rules and eligibility criteria governing this type of expenditure are often complex, which makes errors more likely. The level of error of high-risk expenditure exceeds the materiality threshold and is estimated to be 4.0% (in 2019, it was 4.9 %). This concerns mainly reimbursement-based expenditure. As in the previous year, the auditors have therefore concluded that the level of error in this substantial type of spending is pervasive, and issued an adverse opinion on EU expenditure for 2020.
The European Court of Auditors points out in the report that Member States’ absorption of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds has been slower than planned. By the end of 2020, or the final year of the current seven-year budget, only 55% of the agreed EU funding for the 2014–2020 period had been paid out.
The European Court of Auditors also reviewed the obligations and revenue amounts generated by the United Kingdom’s withdrawal process. On 31 December 2020, the EU accounts showed an amount of 47.5 billion euro due from the United Kingdom based on mutual obligations set out in the withdrawal agreement.
Public sitting starts at 2 p.m. and it will be streamed online.
The video recording of the sitting will be available onthe Riigikogu YouTubechannel. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
At the remote sitting today, the Riigikogu discussed the matter of significant national importance “European Union’s and Estonia’s climate targets by 2030 – achieving ‘Fit for 55’”, initiated by the European Union Affairs Committee.
Member of Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans Helena Braun, Director of Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre Lauri Tammiste, Professor of the University of Tartu and Science and Development Director of Milrem Robotics Mart Noorma and Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Siim Kallas delivered reports at the sitting.
Helena Braun, Member of Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, introduced the climate and energy package adopted by the European Commission in July.
Braun said that the predictions of the World Economic Forum in the recent years had identified the biodiversity crisis and climate change as the greatest and the most likely threats to humanity. She pointed out that their impacts could increasingly be felt. “In recent years, and also this year, we have seen very large floods, storms, heat waves in Europe. They have had thousands of victims, have destroyed forests and crops, and also increased the need for air conditioning and our electricity bills. The warmer the climate gets, the more frequent such extreme weather conditions become, and the more extensive and negative their impact on the life and health of humans will be,” Braun said, explaining the need for the Green Deal.
Braun stated that the cost of inaction would be many times higher than the cost of achieving climate neutrality. “If it is at all possible to attach any adequate price tag to the human lives that will be lost, to the huge migration that arises, regions becoming unfit for habitation and the total destruction of several important sectors of economy,” Braun said. “Ultimately, the transition to green economy is only a means, it is a means of preserving and enhancing the well-being of humans, not an end in itself.”
Braun pointed out as a positive example that Europe has seen this big challenge as a possibility. “Both the European Union and Estonia, our people, our businesses, still have a great opportunity to be the author, the market, but also the exporter and, of course, the primary beneficiary of these clean technology solutions, environmentally friendly products and services, as well as new innovative business models. According to all analyses, it can be used to create a very large number of jobs, and in almost all sectors of economy: in renewable energy, construction, renovation, transport, agriculture and restoration of nature,” Braun emphasised.
Braun also explained what the proposals would involve, and underlined that, by now, both the climate neutrality by 2050 and the interim target to reduce emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 were both legal obligations in Europe. “All Member States of the European Union, including Estonia, have committed themselves to this unanimously. Now, we have to meet these obligations collectively and of course also in solidarity.”
In his report, Director of Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre Lauri Tammiste focused on the importance of the “Fit for 55” proposal and its significance from the perspective of the Estonian research. He noted that the package was ambitious, and that if it was asked why it was so urgent, the reply was that much time had been wasted on discussing, analysing and debating. He underlined that the problems of greenhouse gases and climate change had been spoken about for more than 100 years already.
“Johan Rockström, who is the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, one of the most important, one of the most prominent climate scientists, said very well that this 1.5 degree target is not a negotiating position, is not an object for bargaining – it is a very clear scientific limit beyond which these negative effects start to escalate exponentially,” Tammiste said. He also emphasised that it was cheaper to prevent problems than to deal with their consequences.
Tammiste emphasised that we were a small, extremely integrated global economy. “So from this point of view it would be reasonable to look how we can benefit from this in the most sensible way possible to improve Estonia’s quality of life and solve environmental problems, but also to contribute in solidarity so that Estonia, as a member of the European and global economy, can be less vulnerable to these climate risks,” he said.
“According to the IEA, the so-called clean energy, solar and wind energy, has been the cheapest way of producing energy for several years already, and the predictions are that these markets, the demand for clean solutions is going to grow very, very much, especially as all other regions and countries start to follow suit. Maybe Europe is in the lead by some years, but this should be taken as an advantage and not as something bad,” Tammiste said.
He encouraged to start acting at once and recommended to begin with cost effective reasonable things that increase the quality of life. In his opinion, better planned cities and better organised public transport are things that are useful for several reasons.
Professor of the University of Tartu and Science and Development Director of Milrem Robotics Mart Noorma emphasised in his report that the ground-breaking technological innovation made it possible to find new solutions to problems and brought along fundamental changes in our life and work processes.
Noorma said that transition to unmanned autonomous vehicles and work machines was a field that enabled to support achieving the climate targets and at the same time conduct the processes in an economically more profitable way. “When robots come to help, it is possible to redesign our work processes, so that in principle all parties win: the nature protection enthusiasts and fighters for biological diversity, and the economic profit will certainly not decrease, but may even increase,” Noorma said. He added that tractors were very heavy, but remotely controlled or autonomous machines were much lighter.
In the Professor’s opinion, it is very important from Estonia’s point of view to find out what is the strength of Estonian entrepreneurship, what is the strength of Estonian science and what are the needs of the Estonian public sector. “This is the triple helix that has been talked about so much in the context of innovation. “If we could bring these three strengths together in the same fight against climate change, and we had a sufficient number of parties who could contribute, but also benefit from the other side, then our country will be on the winning side, as well as the Earth and the climate,” Noorma emphasised.
Noorma also said that a new generation, or the first generation of robot work machines for fields and forests was being developed. “We are very interested that the Estonian hydrogen infrastructure would develop to the level where we could do the forest and field work on hydrogen basis. In the future, hydrogen will certainly be one of the potential energy sources in the situations where batteries may not be sufficient,” Noorma said, looking into the future.
The Professor also underlined the importance of cooperation between companies, research institutions and public sector.
Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Siim Kallas said that, in September and October, parliamentary hearings on the green transition were held in the European Union Affairs Committee to learn about the general framework and sectoral problems of the Fit for 55 package before the discussions of the Government’s positions that would start soon. He explained that the Fit for 55 package was a collection of big and complicated initiatives that first existed mainly in the form of drafts and plans, but had to become laws.
Kallas pointed out that the effects of global warming were already a reality – extreme heat, floods, droughts, water scarcity, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, forest fires, windbreakages and agricultural damage – but said that, in terms of trends, these effects will be felt most by our children and grandchildren. “We have to decide now how to act to achieve climate neutrality, while ensuring that our farmers and foresters are not left behind, how to reduce fossil fuel based energy and increase the share of renewable energy production so that our energy supply and security will not be threatened or electricity prices would not rise. How to restructure the economy of East-Virumaa successfully? How to reorganise transport so that there would be less emissions, but the supply chains would not be interrupted? How to optimise consumption without damaging our standards of living?”
He acknowledged that Estonia had done well, but inevitably we had to participate in the global climate policy. “I can’t imagine that we can do anything on our own to prevent the melting of polar ice and fighting the resulting sea-level rise. It has been said that Estonia and the European Union cannot influence the global climate if China, India, the United States and others do not contribute with similar measures. By today, the above-mentioned countries have also come on board, and have taken drastic steps,” Kallas said.
Kallas added that from the economic point of view, three pillars were necessary for implementing the green transition: investments, fair pricing for normal functioning and social policy to adapt to changes and overcome the consequences of possible crises. He also spoke of the need to save natural resources and that the green transition was also a technology transition. “It is in the interests of the European Union and Estonia to be the leaders in green technologies. It is an opportunity for our entrepreneurs to create a market for environmentally sustainable services and innovative business models. The targets established by the Green Deal are thus not only in the interests of the environment. It is also a sustainable economic model that enables new developmental leap,” Kallas concluded.
During the debate, Yoko Alender (Reform Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) and Riina Sikkut (Social Democratic Party) took the floor on behalf of their political groups.
At the beginning of the sitting, Minister of the Environment Erki Savisaar took his oath of office.