President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas spoke about the challenge and opportunity of tackling climate change at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Athens today.
“We all share a concern and a sense of responsibility for creating a successful and sustainable Europe,” Ratas said in his speech in Athens. “Tackling climate change appears to be a pressing challenge for every country, but we must view it as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to modernise our economies, ensure a sustainable growth.”
Ratas emphasised that a clean and healthy environment was an important component of the realisation of all human rights. He pointed out that the right to physical and moral health, family life and personal integrity of each human being depended crucially on healthy ecosystems.
“We have to recognise that nature has no borders. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we inhabit is the responsibility of us all,” Ratas said. “Every human being has the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
Ratas gave his counterparts an overview of Riigikogu’s work in integrating international standards and agreements in the national legislation and implementing climate related legislative amendments in accordance with the Fit for 55 Package. He explained that Estonia worked together with recognised experts in order to develop scientific research, technological solutions and innovations.
Ratas added that through education, projects and environmental competitions, Estonia had established a structured youth engagement. “Young people as equal partners to decision-makers are valuable contributors to the climate action,” he said. “We strongly believe that the openness of the regulatory process along with accurate analyses help to raise public awareness about the importance and opportunities of the green transition.”
The agenda of the President of the Riigikogu for today and tomorrow also includes several bilateral meetings with his counterparts. Today, Ratas met with Vice-President of the National Assembly of France Laetitia Saint-Paul, and President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Éliane Tillieux and President of the Belgian Senate Stephanie D’Hose. Excellent mutual parliamentary relations and cooperation in issues relating to security, energy and climate change were discussed at the meetings.
The Head of the Estonian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mati Raidma will observe the elections in Uzbekistan on Sunday.
“In recent years, Uzbekistan has carried out several reforms, and the upcoming elections provide a great opportunity to show how these work in practice,” Raidma said. “The elections will be observed by MPs from a great number of countries, which is a testament to the readiness of the international community to support Uzbekistan and its people on their road towards democracy,” Raidma said. He added that the observers were naturally eager to assess the elections honestly and impartially.
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. Under the aegis of the OSCE PA, over 70 MPs from 24 national parliaments will be observing the elections. In total, the election observing mission in Uzbekistan will count over 300 participants.
For more information, please contact: Mati Raidma +372 507 4112
At today’s sitting of the Riigikogu, the Bill that will extend the duration of the procedure for payment of sickness benefits until the end of next year passed the first reading. According to the Bill, the sickness benefit is paid from the second day of their sick leave.
The Bill on Amendments to the Act on Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Other Acts, and the Act on Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (456 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic, will provide for continuing payment of sickness benefit until the end of 2022 from the second day of sick leave until the fifth day of sick leave by the employer, and from the sixth day of sick leave by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. Thus, the system that is currently in force, and according to which the first day of sick leave is the employee’s own liability, the second to fifth days are the employer’s liability and the liability of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund begins on the sixth day of sick leave, will continue until the end of 2022 pursuant to the Bill.
The explanatory memorandum notes that earlier compensation for days of sick leave enables people to remain at home already when the first symptoms of illness appear without losing significantly in income.
Implementation of the amendment will cause additional expenses of 19 million euro in 2022, of which 12.4 million euro will be covered form the state budget and the rest from the own resources of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.
The Act is planned to be in force for a specified period of time, from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.
During the debate, Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party), Oudekki Loone (Centre Party) and Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
Today and tomorrow, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas attends the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament that brings Speakers and Presidents of the member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) together in Athens.
The Presidents of Parliaments will exchange experience and ideas on addressing the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges of climate change and the common future of all European citizens.
The President of the Riigikogu also plans to have several bilateral meetings with his counterparts in Athens.
After distancing due to the coronavirus crisis, the speakers of the parliaments of 47 member states have the possibility to come together and devote the first panel of the Conference to sharing experience and practices for the way forward in the continuing health crisis.
The second theme will focus on environmental problems. The main aim of global policy now and in the future is to respond to the challenge caused by climate change. Here, the parliaments have an important role in identifying national priorities, providing guidance and monitoring, and ensuring the allocation of adequate resources. They must also contribute to promoting dialogue between the various parties involved at local, national, regional and international level.
The Conference will conclude with discussions on the common future of all European citizens, focusing on giving a voice to the young people, innovation and development of technologies of the future, at the same time ensuring that nobody is left behind in the democracy of the future.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed the Resolution that appoints member of the Legal Affairs Committee Urve Tiidus as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group monitoring the activities of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol).
By its earlier Resolution, the Riigikogu had appointed Uno Kaskpeit and Kalle Laanet as members of the scrutiny group. In connection with the suspension of the mandate of Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Laanet, the Legal Affairs Committee made a proposal to appoint Member of the Riigikogu Urve Tiidus as a member of the scrutiny group to replace Kalle Laanet.
Based on the relevant Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, the scrutiny of Europol’s activities is carried out by the European Parliament together with national parliaments. This constitutes a specialised Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) established together by the EU national parliaments and the competent committee of the European Parliament. The main task of the scrutiny group is to politically monitor Europol’s activities in fulfilling its mission, including as regards the impact of those activities on the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons.
69 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of a Member to the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group Monitoring the Activities of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation” (405 OE), submitted by the Legal Affairs committee. One member was against and there were two abstentions.
A Bill passed the second reading
The Veterinary Bill (384 SE), initiated by the Government, has been drafted due to the need to implement a directly applicable regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on transmissible animal diseases. The current national legislation concerning animal health will be consolidated into a single Veterinary Act. The aim is to consolidate, harmonise and update the sectoral law, to implement the EU Animal Health Law and other directly applicable EU Regulations in the veterinary sector, and to formulate the provisions, implementing procedures and provisions delegating authority that remain within the competence of EU Member States and that are necessary to set out the requirements more precisely.
The new Act will help ensure better legal clarity for operators and consistency of Estonian legislation with EU legislation.
The Riigikogu did not pass an Act again without amendments
The Act on Amendments to the Collective Agreements Act and Other Acts (383 UA), which the President of the Republic had refused to proclaim, intended to bring the regulation of extending a term or condition of a collective agreement into compliance with the freedom of enterprise which is protected by the Constitution, at the same time ensuring a capacity for social partnership and collective involvement. The regulation of extension concerns collective agreements that are entered into between employers and federations or confederations of trade unions.
Under the Act, in Estonia, a federation of trade unions or a trade union in the same area of activity whose members constitute 15 per cent of the employees in the area of activity or which has at least 500 members as one party and the employers who provide employment to at least 40 per cent of the employees in the relevant area of activity as the other party may agree on the extension of a term or condition of a collective agreement.
The compensations to officials who are unlawfully released from service also increase. More specifically, this concerns an official who is pregnant, who has the right to pregnancy and maternity leave, is raising a child under seven years of age or who has been elected a representative of officials and who is released from service unlawfully. Until now, the amount of the compensation has been six months’ average remuneration, but according to an amendment, the employer will pay compensation to the extent of the 12 months’ average remuneration of the employee to the employee.
The third major amendment concerns trustees and, once the Act enters into force, if there are two or more trustees, the employer will have to enable all trustees to perform the duties of trustee during the working time to the extent of the time prescribed for at least two trustees.
With the amendments, among other things, the duration of the payment of the unemployment insurance benefit and the unemployment allowance will be temporarily extended by 60 calendar days in the case when the registered unemployment rate rises above 8.5 per cent in Estonia.
The Riigikogu had passed the Act on 13 September. The President of the Republic had decided to not to proclaim the Act on account of breach of the rules of procedure. According to the President, it had been incorrect to omit the deadline for entry into force from the text of the Bill after the second reading, because that was not a technical amendment, but changed the content of the text.
One member of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act without amendments and 73 voted against. Thus, the Act without amendments was not passed, and proceedings on it will be continued according to law. The Social Affairs Committee is the lead committee.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu deliberated “How to get the price of electricity down?” as a matter of significant national importance, at the initiative of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction.
Presentations were made by Professor of Energy at TalTech Alar Konist, Doctor of Technical Sciences and Chairman of the Committee on Energy of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Arvi Hamburg, and Chairman and member of the faction of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Martin Helme.
Alar Konist began from the energy consumption around the world. He said that nearly 80 percent of the consumed energy is based on fossil fuels, which include coal, gas, and oil. And although the percentage of renewable energy has been growing consistently, this has not met the expectations by any means. Konist added that coal-fired power plants would soon be closed for good, and not because we are running out of coal but because their life cycle and working resources have exhausted themselves. So far, we have used gas as an alternative to coal, which has indeed significantly increased the usage of gas compared to coal. Since 2014, investments into oil production have fallen by nearly one half, which means that the sector can also expect a number of businesses to close down.
Konist detailed the price composition of electricity as the price of power generation and electricity itself, supplemented with network charge, VAT, renewable energy charge and excise duty, as well as pollution costs, and other variable expenses. He emphasised the major impact of fuel expenses in shaping the price of electricity. Konist admitted that the price of electricity could be regulated by saving on fuels expenses; however, we are currently lacking the instruments to keep the price in check on the global market. “All the prices have soared, and this is causing the rise in the price of electricity that we are seeing today. The price of electricity has been unleashed and we should not expect positive and quick solutions.”
Konist feels that the price of energy might not have reached its ceiling yet because the production capacity and ability are constantly decreasing. He sees a need for investments to maintain the system and keep it operational. “If we fail to invest, we are first of all risking with the system shutting down, and secondly, of course, with prices becoming even more volatile,” said Konist, adding that this was one of the biggest future challenges.
Konist also mentioned that the bulk of the gas we consume comes from Russia, and if we were to start using more liquefied natural gas, this could be imported from the US, for example. He sees it very risky that we treat gas as our transitional fuel and are using it in increased quantities, because this forces us into dependency from other countries outside the European Union.
In addition to contributing towards renewable energy, we also need to invest into production capabilities that we can manage according to our needs, because wind and sun farms cannot always deliver or keep the system robust. Konist referred to the Nordic countries which use nuclear, hydro, and thermal power stations, the latter working largely on fossil fuels. “In order to maintain the quality of the network, we need all the energy production methods,” he said. Considering the current increasing CO2 quota charges, the feasibility of applying hydrogen technology also increases with every passing day, which would allow us to achieve climate neutrality with oil shale as well, and would keep all the production methods in our toolbox for decisions in the future.
Konist concluded with a proposal to differentiate the network fees on the basis of the method of production. He admitted that meeting our climate ambitions was resource-heavy and costly, and our future would be beleaguered by price fluctuations unless we contribute towards capabilities that we can manage.
Arvi Hamburg started with the reminder that despite our one hundred years of experience in using oil shale for power generation, we have become an electricity importer today.
Hamburg does not believe that the prices of electricity and gas would ever drop to the earlier levels; instead, these would remain 2–2.5 times higher than last year. “All the talk about the cold winter passing and wind starting to blow again, the sun starting to shine and the weather getting nice is well enough, but not what we can expect in reality,” he said.
Hamburg also gave examples of price increase impacting the consumer. He described household consumers as the most disadvantaged, with electric or gas heated private homes being hit particularly hard. The statistics say that one in ten private homes are heated with gas, and one in fifteen with electricity. For example, an electric heated private home uses an average of 1500 KWh monthly. While in September last year, the owner paid EUR 174 a month, this year they must pay EUR 322, which is a 1.85 times increase. He also gave the example of 2–3 room flats with central heating, where the end consumer price was EUR 35.5 in September last year, and EUR 63 in September this year. Hamburg added that the prices are sure to increase even further.
In energy, the key is balance. He described a triangle with supply security as one side, meaning that energy must be available at any time and in any place in the required amount. The second side is its affordability, and the third is environmental sustainability. “If we compromise the balance of this triangle, we have no grounds to blame the market because it is our political decisions that have caused the market imbalance. We have put a bit too much effort into one side of the triangle, while on another side we are facing the fact that the availability is becoming increasingly unreliable,” he said.
Hamburg also pointed out that there is no common European energy market with a common price; instead, different regions have different prices, and there is also a price difference between the Baltic states, not to mention the Nordic countries, or the continental Europe, or Central Europe.
He also touched on renewable energy charge as well as offshore and onshore wind farms; the capacity of the installed farms is 330 MW, which satisfies 25% of our energy need, so that 75% of our energy must come from somewhere else.
Thinking about the future, a cleaner climate requires more money. Hamburg suggested considering very carefully whether we are willing to pay more and whether we are willing to give up our comforts. He also sees a possible future option in circular economy in the oil shale industry, beginning with the use of ash, crushed stone, and ending with the chemical industry. He did not see closing businesses or top-down orders having much climate impact; it is technology that would take us forward. In his opinion, the future lies in combined power generation, i.e. energy mix. He also talked about the four Ds in electric energy – decarbonisation, decentralisation, desynchronisation, and digitalisation.
He concluded his presentation with a number of suggestions. The government should stand by the consumer and abandon the renewable energy charge. This would be covered from the price of the CO2 quota, which has increased. Secondly, he suggested reducing the VAT. For example, from 20% to 9%, which would reduce the end bill for the consumer by 11%. The cost of this alleviation would be covered from the same VAT, which we actually receive more thanks to the higher price of electricity. Hamburg also suggested reviewing the decision to close down oil shale power generation.
Hamburg emphasised the importance of research in the energy economy, the differentiation of network fees according to the energy production structure, developing compensation mechanisms, and extending the emissions trade system. He also touched on the life cycle of wind turbines and solar panels, and the European solidarity which should be better regulated to support any countries in crisis.
Martin Helme started with an admonition to base everything on discussions with the voters concerning the meaning of the climate transition or climate policy, and its implications on their standards of living. He said that the global climate has been changing since the beginning of time. According to Helme, the climate has been considerably warmer before the birth of humankind and considerably colder before the birth of humankind than it is now, and this has had nothing to do with burning oil shale in Narva. He added that the global climate is primarily affected by the sun, the distance and the angle between the Earth and the sun, the level of activity of the sun, and the geological processes inside the Earth as a consequence of this activity. This is why Helme considers it easier to adapt to the climate change rather than fight it.
Helme does not see the European CO2 policy as having any effect on the climate; however, it does have clear economic and socio-economic effects. He views carbon trading as damaging and something that needs to stop. Estonia must abandon it.
Helme sees the transition to wind and sun energy leading to colossal investments into the network, and yet the price of electricity would remain two to three times higher than today. “Renewable energy is hugely expensive and the transition to it demands massive investments and the consequent adaptation of networks demands massive investments,” Helme said. The power stations in Narva cover the needs of Estonia and have a balance volume of around EUR 2 billion.
Helme suggests discontinuing the current CO2 trade to ensure lower electricity prices in short as well as long term. Secondly, he thinks that we must stop paying the renewable energy charge as useless. “We are taking 100 million from our common pocket and giving these to around 50 or 100 businesses who have been very closely linked to drafting the legislation,” Helme said. “This has no benefits for the climate and all it does is drive up the price of electricity.”
Transmission fee could also be lowered because instead of being a cost-based price this is an investment into renewable energy networks. “If we reduce the need for these investments, the electricity transmission fees would also drop immediately,” Helme said.
Helme commended the decision of the government to keep the excise duties on electricity and gas low. He also sees the sense in reducing the energy VAT to 9%. He believes that the price of electricity would immediately reach a reasonable level as soon as we take the above administrative and political steps.
Helme concluded with a suggestion to have only an open internal market in Estonia. “For anything abroad, we buy and sell electricity through a state-owned export/import agency which holds the monopoly and which either buys up the market surplus in Estonia and sells this abroad, or buys from abroad and sells on the Estonian market at a fixed price, as the government decides,” Helme described his proposal. “In this case, electricity in Estonia would cost as much as when produced from oil shale, which would mean a considerable drop in price.”
During the debate, Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), Erki Savisaar (Centre Party), Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party), Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), and Sven Sester (Isamaa) took the floor on behalf of their factions. At the end of the debate, Kalle Grünthal (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) also made a speech.
Nearly 2000 UK, French and Estonian soldiers were conducting field training exercise Bold Panzer on the Central Training Area near Tapa this week. The purpose of the exercise was to complete the process of integrating the new UK-led NATO battlegroup into the 1st Estonian Brigade, thereby creating a cohesive battleforce.
“The integration into the 1st Infantry Brigade is of course our primary goal, so the process really began as soon as we arrived in Tapa and completed our takeover,” says Lieutenant Colonel Simon Worth, Commander of the UK Army´s Royal Tank Regiment, which deployed to Estonia last month, and now leads the NATO Battlegroup. “Leading up to our arrival, the Regiment completed six weeks of intensive training in Germany. This week we have been building on that training and adapting to the demands of the Estonian terrain. The training has certainly paid off. We´re now well underway to being fully integrated into the Estonian 1st Brigade, and will stand ready with our French collegues to contribute to the collective defense of Estonia.”
Exercise Bold Panzer began last week and ended today. Using predetermined areas and battlefield scenarios, the NATO soldiers were conducting operations in the Central Training Area near Tapa, with their colleagues from the EDF´s Scouts Batallion posing as adversaries.
„Allied battlegroup is a part of our territorial defence plan and operates on the same principles as other 1st infantry brigade battalions and companies. Bold Panzer laid a strong foundation for following cooperation and delvelopment,“ said major Dimitri Kondratenko from 1st infantry brigade. NATO battlegroups in the Baltics are led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States. NATO´s enhanced Forward Presence was established in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in 2017.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed an Act that gives employees with caring responsibilities the right to ask for flexible working conditions and eliminates the mandatory waiting period upon recruitment of 13-14-year-old minors.
The Act on Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act and Amendments to Other Associated Act (361 SE), initiated by the Government, transposes the European Union directive specifying the right of workers and officials with caring responsibilities to ask for flexible working or service conditions, e.g. part-time work or flexible working schedules or remote working arrangements.
The right to ask for flexible working conditions will not bring about an obligation for employers and administrative agencies to offer the conditions asked for, but employers will have to provide reasons for a refusal in such situations. Workers and officials with caring responsibilities are also provided additional protection upon cancellation of an employment contract or release from service and a reverse burden of proof in disputes on cancellation of employment contract or release from service.
Under the Act, upon entry into an employment contract with a 13-14-year-old minor, the waiting period of ten working days from the registration of the minor with the employment register no longer applies. In the future, this obligation will remain in place only upon the employment of 7–12-year-olds. The purpose of the amendment is to reduce both employers’ and the Labour Inspectorate’s workload in respect of recruitment of 13-14-year-old young people. The amendment will help create more flexible working opportunities, while at the same time ensuring effective protection of minors in employment relationships.
The child leave regulation adopted with the amendments to the parental leave and benefit system in October 2018 is also improved. From 1 April 2022, all parents of children under 14 years of age will be entitled to a child leave of ten working days for each child under 14 years of age. It will be calculated from the end of a parental benefit period and the amount of the remuneration paid for it will be 50 per cent of the average salary of the parent.
An automated notification system for the working life information system will be developed that will notify the employer, the registered minor as well as the legal representative of the child of the mandatory conditions and risks related to the specific work that should be taken into account.
During the debate, Siret Kotka took the floor on behalf of the Centre Party Faction.
83 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act.
The Riigikogu passed another Act
The Act on Amendments to the Product Conformity Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (372 SE), initiated by the Government, extends the surveillance competences of market surveillance authorities in connection with products offered for sale in e-commerce. Authorities will get access to communication data in order that they would have the opportunity to identify owners of webpages and, where necessary, to restrict access to online interfaces and to require the removal of information content or the display of a warning. The aim of the amendment is to ensure that dangerous products are removed from sale as quickly as possible.
The supervision of products from third countries will also be enhanced. For this, a new requirement for making construction products, personal protective equipment, appliances burning gaseous fuels, and toys available on the European Union market will be introduced. In the case of such products, there will have to be an interlocutor established in the European Union mandated by the manufacturer who can be addressed in the event of additional questions or problems and who is responsible for the availability and verification of declarations and, where necessary, for taking corrective action.
In cross-border cooperation, digital operation and information exchange will be introduced between European Union surveillance authorities. The competence of market surveillance authorities in respect of personal transporters used in traffic and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) intended to be operated in the ‘open’ category is specified. According to the amendments, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority, and not the Transport Administration, will carry out market surveillance of such appliances. For the purpose of more effective sanctioning, the amount of the fine for legal persons is increased from 3200 euro to 32,000 euro.
68 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the passage of the Act and 17 voted against.
Seven Bills passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the National Defence Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (417 SE), initiated by the Government, will create better preconditions for the use of civil resources for independent defence capability and the hosting of allies, and will comprehensively update the regulation of national defence duties.
The Bill will clarify the imposition of the duty to grant use of items and the expropriation of items, and the relevant powers will be granted to the Defence Resources Agency and the Defence Forces or an agency of executive power authorised by the Government. The current National Defence Duties Act will be repealed, and the issues relating to the duties will be set out in the National Defence Act.
During the debate, Minister of Defence Kalle Laanet took the floor.
The Bill on Amendments to the Land Reform Act and Other Acts (418 SE), initiated by the Government, will make amendments to Acts, in order to help complete the land reform and to reduce the burden of the state in the administration of the agreements entered into in the course of the land reform.
The Bill will resolve problems that have emerged in connection with the land reform. In the course of the land reform, thousands of plots and strips of land that cannot be used independently emerged between immovables. Under the current law, time-consuming land reform proceedings involving a high administrative burden need to be conducted to form separate immovables of these land strips in order to join them to the immovables bordering on them. Under the Bill, such a plot of land can be joined with the immovable bordering on it by a simple land consolidation act, without having to form a separate immovable. Non-reformed plots of land will no longer be entered in a separate register part in the land register, but the boundaries of an existing immovable will be changed.
As at June, according to the data of the Land Board, around 21,000 land units with an area extending to 18,400 hectares have not yet been reformed on the Estonian landmass.
The Bill will also create an opportunity to reform the land under the apartment building if the owner of the dwelling fails to submit an application for the establishment of an apartment ownership by the deadline. It will also be possible to transfer a large share of immovables encumbered with the right of superficies, which are mostly residential buildings, to the superficiaries thereof.
According to the Bill, the administration of the instalment agreements in respect of land entered into upon the privatisation and return of land and the establishment of apartment ownerships, and the performance of the duties of the mortgagee on behalf of the state will be consolidated to the Land Board who is the organiser of the privatisation of land. Thus, the duties of mortgagee that are currently performed by the State Shared Service Centre and the debt proceedings activities will also be transferred to the Land Board.
The Bill on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act, the Building Code and the State Fees Act (437 SE), initiated by the Government, will transpose into Estonian law the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (the Communications Directive).
The explanatory memorandum notes that, compared to 2002 when the telecommunications market had been liberalised and a new legal framework had been adopted, the electronic communications market has developed rapidly and consumers’ behavioural habits have changed. New data-transmission-based “OTT services” (Over The Top service), such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber are increasingly more used instead of traditional communications services and telephone and mobile telephone services. In order to ensure equitable protection of the rights of consumers, as is the case with traditional communications services, OTT services will also be brought under the concept of communications service. When all communications companies operating in the communications market are brought under the communications regulation, all electronic communications services companies operating in the communications market will be treated equally.
The Bill will increase consumer rights, in particular with the requirement to provide the pre-contractual information and the contract summary of the communications service contract. With pre-contractual information, the consumer is provided with as detailed an overview as possible of the communications service offered, which should prevent misunderstandings regarding the communications service laid out in the contract and the actual service. With the contract summary, the consumer is provided with an overview of the most important clauses in the communications contract – a description of the communications service, the charge, the duration, renewal and termination of the contract, etc.
For the purpose of ensuring a single European Union communications market, the rules for the deployment of radio frequency bands are harmonised in the EU. Common deadlines for deployment of new radio frequencies are also set.
For the purpose of the construction of very high capacity communications networks, the Bill will facilitate the deployment of small-area wireless access points (small cells) for construction works owned or used by the state or local authorities, for example public construction works, street lamps and traffic lights. In terms of technology, very high capacity communications networks need deployment of a large number of small-area wireless access points (small cells) that ensure the availability of the communications network and uninterrupted coverage. This amendment will be provided for by an amendment to the Building Code.
The Bill will specify the requirements for the use of hardware and software in communications networks so that using them would not endanger national security.
The Bill on Amendments to the Ports Act, the Maritime Safety Act and the State Fees Act (425 SE), initiated by the government, will transpose the relevant directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships, amending a directive and repealing an earlier directive.
The definition of “waste from ships” will be introduced, which means all waste, including cargo residues, which is generated during the service of a ship or during loading, unloading and cleaning operations. The obligation of ships upon notification of waste from ships and keeping records on waste from ships will also be amended.
Waste fished passively in the course of commercial fishing that is caught in fishing gear during fishing, for example derelict fishing gear and other marine litter, will be included under waste from ships. No separate fee may be charged in the port for delivery of such waste, but they can be delivered on account of the fee for receiving the waste from ships included in the port dues. This amendment should help prevent the waste caught during commercial fishing from being discarded back into the sea.
The Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act and the State Fees Act (426 SE), initiated by the Government, will transpose the relevant Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the amendments made in respect of common rules for the internal market in electricity.
The amendments will increase opportunities for distributed generation through a regulation concerning active users of network services. This will give consumers an opportunity to participate more actively in the electricity market and to benefit in particular from changing their consumption habits. The Bill also provides for a regulation relating to the creation, development and management of energy communities, as well as a regulation concerning aggregation and demand response, in order to increase the flexibility of networks, and energy efficiency for consumers.
An obligation to procure flexibility mechanisms from the market through tendering procedures will be provided for for network operators. The Bill also sets requirements for network operators to develop market-based charging networks for electric vehicles.
The Bill on Amendments to the Financial Supervision Authority Act and Other Acts (422 SE), initiated by the Government, will make amendments to the current financial sector legislation. They are related to the implementation and transposition of European Union legislation.
First, it provides for the bases according to which crowdfunding service providers will be able to start to apply for authorisation from the Financial Supervision Authority, and the Financial Supervision Authority will be able to start to exercise supervision over them. The amendment will concern only crowdfunding platforms offering opportunities to invest in businesses, and they will be able to apply for authorisation from 21 November. In addition, the Bill provides for the bases under which crowdfunding service providers will start to pay a supervision fee to the Financial Supervision Authority.
The Financial Supervision Authority will be given the authority to exercise supervision over the information on environmental sustainability and on sustainability risks that banks and other financial market participants submit.
The Bill will also specify what information will have to be provided to foreign listed companies regarding their shareholders located in Estonia, and what information to share to the Estonian shareholders of such companies.
The Bill on Amendments to the State Budget for 2021 Act (431 SE), initiated by the Government, has been drafted in accordance with the State Budget Act under which, in order to amend the state budget without amending the total amount of funds, the Government may initiate a draft State Budget Amendment Act not later than two months before the end of the budgetary year.
Considering that the State Budget for 2021 Act was prepared in the autumn of the preceding year and some of the funding needs have changed, it is expedient to initiate an amendment of the state budget to achieve more effectively the aims set by state agencies. The motions to amend will amend the distribution between expenditure and investments.
During the debate, Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) took the floor.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu discussed the Cohesive Estonia Development Plan 2021–2030, which aims to make Estonia more cohesive and inclusive over the coming decade. The development plan focuses on the promotion of adaptation and integration, Global Estonia, the civil society and population accounting.
Minister of Culture Anneli Ott and member of the Cultural Affairs Committee Signe Kivi presented the development plan and the proceedings relating to it.
Minister of Culture Anneli Ott stated that, although social integration had been consistent, and there was more understanding in society, and people of different nationalities had a strong national identity, there was still a lot of language-based separation and consequent inequality. In the opinion of the minister, inequality and a lack of a sense of unity may however bring about a polarisation of society and increase the probability of value conflicts between people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
In the minister’s words, over the coming years, the adaptation and integration policy is intended to support local governments who will have the opportunity and capacity to contribute more to integration. Ott emphasised that it was necessary to shape a common, understandable and reliable communication space, and the digital transition was inevitable. At the same time, it is necessary to facilitate the establishment of contacts fostering the sense of solidarity and to ensure an opportunity for people to improve their Estonian language skills. “This way we will be more likely to achieve a more cohesive and stable society,” Ott said. “This will be an Estonia where people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds carry Estonian identity, participate actively in social life, share democratic values and a common cultural, information and communication space, and equal opportunities for successful independent living and wellbeing have been created for them.
In the opinion of the Minister of Culture, the civil society is the key issue; its influence must be strengthened, at the same time also supporting the development of NGOs. “The civil society is one of the mainstays of a cohesive and inclusive society. It is a pledge of the sustainability and security of a country,” Ott said. In the minister’s words, communities are not engaged and empowered systematically and on a daily basis in local governments. Therefore it is planned to implement a co-creation development programme directed at local governments and communities, and on the basis of its results, a model for co-creation of communities will be drawn up.
The minister also drew attention to the problem of the small proportion of permanent donors in Estonian society and called for looking for ways to promote donating.
The minister considered the promotion and upholding of Estonian identity abroad one of the important tasks for the next decade. She noted that the Estonians living abroad were part of the cohesive Estonian society regardless of their location. In order that they would not lose contact with Estonia, it is necessary to continue to communicate with the Estonian community abroad and to involve them systemically. “It is important that the people living abroad maintain their Estonian identity, feel the support of our country and get an opportunity to participate in the life of Estonian society. Only then can they help promote our country and reinforce its good reputation, thereby contributing to ensuring the Estonian economy and security,” Ott noted.
She added that big steps needed to be taken to facilitate the return of Estonians to their native country. “For smoother return and adaptation to life in Estonia, we will ensure services supporting the return, we will consolidate the knowledge about the people who return, and we will increase awareness of society. We will involve more local governments and improve their capability in supporting the people who return,” Ott said.
The minister also highlighted the digital transition as a key topic of the development plan. She said that the heart of the Estonian electronic governance was smart population accounting that supported a cohesive society as well as undoubtedly all other sectors of national life. In the words of the Minister of Culture, the software of the population register is outdated and does not allow for the creation and development of up-to-date services, nor do the current data collection procedures ensure the quality of data that would meet the users’ expectations. She noted that the development plan was intended to keep pace with technological development, to take account of the changing needs and habits of people, and to simplify procedures for everyone. As the most tangible change for the citizen, the minister pointed out the plan to create more proactive government services where, in the case of a life event, a person can conduct their affairs with the state in a once-only communication and mostly automatically. For example, when submitting a marriage application, it will be possible to apply for new identity documents, or when using the online service relating to the birth of a child, the birth will be registered immediately.
Member of the Cultural Affairs Committee Signe Kivi gave an overview of the discussion that had been held at the joint sitting of the Cultural Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee.
During the debate, Jüri Jaanson (Reform Party), Jaak Valge (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Marko Šorin (Centre Party), Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Paul Puustusmaa (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
A Bill was dropped from the proceedings of the Riigikogu
The Bill on Amendments to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Act (393 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits, was intended to ensure that the appointment of the acknowledged experts in the field of activity of the Estonian Public Broadcasting to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council would be more independent of political procedure.
The Bill would have amended the regulation of the appointment of the acknowledged experts in the field of activity of the Estonian Public Broadcasting to the Council. Under the current Act, the Riigikogu appoints experts to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council on the proposal of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. The Bill proposed to establish a system where the authorities, institutions or representative organisations specified in the Act, such as Universities Estonia, the Association of Journalists, the Employers’ Confederation and the Bar Association, appoint members to the Council.
According to the Bill, the procedure for the appointment of the members of the Council who are members of the Riigikogu would have remained unchanged – the Riigikogu appoints a representative from each faction of the Riigikogu.
During the debate, Mihhail Stalnuhhin (Centre Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party) took the floor.
The Cultural Affairs Committee as the lead committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 64 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion, 12 voted against and there was one abstention. Thus, the Bill was rejected and it was dropped from the proceedings.
In a festive ceremony at the beginning of the sitting of the Riigikogu, Alar Karis took the oath of office of the President of the Republic and delivered a speech before the Riigikogu. President Kersti Kaljulaid also made a speech.
After that, the Riigikogu continued with its regular sitting to discuss the Cultural Development Plan 2021–2030. Minister of Culture Anneli Ott and member of the Cultural Affairs Committee Heidy Purga made reports.
The Cultural Development Plan 2021–2030 is a document that sets strategic goals for the cultural sector and it is a follow-up strategy for the document “The Fundamentals of the Cultural Policy until 2020”.
The development plan sets out that the shaping and implementation of the cultural policy is guided by our constitutional objective to guarantee the preservation of the Estonian nation, language and culture through the ages, as well as the principles of freedom of the arts and sciences, the right to property, and cultural diversity defined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The Minister of Culture explained that the development plan had been drawn up as a joint creation of several ministries, the Government Office, the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, as well as a result of cooperation between experts and representatives of the cultural sector. The drafting of the development plan has taken into account various analyses and studies, expert opinions, international level documents, the results of public discussions and engagement events, as well as the results of the implementation of the Fundamentals of the Cultural Policy until 2020.
Ott noted that, when the preparations for drafting a new development plan had started at the beginning of 2018, it had been found that the new strategy document should lay down a clearer cultural policy vision that would also take into account the proposals of the actors in the sector and the ideas and opinions of people who cared about the future of the Estonian culture. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, seminars and development discussions had been held, where representatives of the public, private and voluntary sector had been invited. Besides that, there had been several meetings with representatives of the ministries that were sectorally connected with the organisations, and other interested parties.
Ott said that discussion days had taken place in all counties in 2019. In autumn 2020, meetings with representatives of all sectors were held. The vision document “Culture 2030”, which was created as a result of joint cooperation and a contribution by all, sets the following sub-aims: to keep the Estonian cultural life strong and functioning; to ensure that the Estonian cultural memory is cared for and valued; and that culture and creativity are valued in the development of society. They will contribute to the overarching aim: the Estonian culture is viable, it is developing and is open to the world, and participation in culture is a natural part of every person’s life.
Ott said that one of the main questions was what imprint the global crisis had left on our culture and for how long it would continue to influence the sector. “The state has taken several steps to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the sector. If the cultural and sport sector received a total of 25 million euro of crisis assistance in March 2020, the supplementary budget adopted in mid-April this year allocated 42 million euro to the area of administration of the Ministry of Culture,” Ott noted. She added that that was important support that had helped keep the operational structures and jobs functioning. “The current crisis has shown to us how different sectors are interlinked and therefore we are pointing out in the development plan that it is necessary to support the institutions, organisations, creative persons and businesses in the cultural sector in overcoming the current crisis, in recovery and in adapting to the long-term impacts of the crisis,” Ott explained. She underlined that it was definitely important to increase the capacity of the whole cultural sector to prevent, mitigate and manage risks, and to prepare for future crises.
Ott pointed out that the time of the crisis had boosted changes and had dramatically highlighted the issue of digitalisation. “Culture 2030” considers it very important to take action to make the Estonian culture and culture in the Estonian language more widely available on digital platforms.
Ott explained that the development plan was a very extensive document that set out the general objectives. “And this development plan covers a large number of cultural managers, involving a very wide range of sectors. This development plan is not just a working document of the Ministry of Culture. It is a working document of the whole sector, which means that it cannot spell out in great detail who needs to do what, or which programme is going to be implemented. The programmes will emerge while the objectives of the development plan are being implemented,” the Minister of Culture said.
In conclusion, Ott said, “the Estonian culture is thriving, but it needs the common care of us all. We have a clear and strong vision of what the Estonian culture should be like in 2030, and we are capable of achieving these objectives with joint efforts of all parties involved.”
Member of the Cultural Affairs Committee Heidy Purga gave an overview of the discussion that had taken place in the Cultural Affairs Committee.
During the debate, Signe Kivi (Reform Party), Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party), Marko Šorin (Centre Party), Helle-Moonika Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Üllar Saaremäe (Isamaa) and Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa) took the floor.
Minister of Culture Anneli Ott replied to the interpellation concerning the valuing and protection of the Estonian vernacular architecture (No 82), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.