NordenBladet —At today’s sitting of the Riigikogu, the Bill on Amendments to the Organisation of Research and Development Act (33 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction, passed the first reading. It is intended to ensure stable funding of research and development by the state at the level of one per cent of GDP. This will support broad-based social development and facilitate greater added value of entrepreneurship.
“Science and higher education. Teachers’ salary, higher education and science, I would say, are an investment into the future. We have all agreed that defence spending has been fixed in law. Likewise, contribution to research also deserves to be set out in law as one per cent of gross domestic product as of 2022,” Katri Raik (Social Democratic Party) said when presenting the Bill.
The initiators of the Bill said in justification that the lag in the research and development funding hindered Estonia’s movement towards knowledge-intensive economy. The researchers’ labour market is international, and the limited research and development funding forces Estonian researchers to leave Estonia for countries with better research and development funding.
Member of the Riigikogu Mart Võrklaev took his oath of office.
During the open microphone, Jaak Juske took the floor.
NordenBladet —President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas and President of Hungary János Áder met in Budapest to discuss challenges that achieving climate neutrality would set for energy security.
Põlluaas said that Estonia decided this week to join the European Union goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, this means that the carbon emissions of the country must not exceed its capture capacity. “We would like to focus on renewable energy solutions, but sadly technology today cannot offer us a quick substitute for oil shale. We can also expect investments that would be massive for a small country, as well as a socio-economic challenge because tens of thousands of jobs are tied to the oil shale industry,” Põlluaas said. He added that although the European Union does have support mechanisms for giving up coal, there are no support measures for oil shale.
The President of Hungary said that the new budgetary period of the European Union is currently being prepared, with an extra focus on climate related targets. He expressed his hope that these plans would also include measures for giving up oil shale.
This week, the President of the Riigikogu is on a visit to Budapest at the invitation of the Speaker of the Parliament of Hungary. The purpose of the visit is to promote bilateral relations and learn about the latest developments in Hungary. The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa, and member of the National Defence Committee Madis Milling.
NordenBladet —Head of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), member of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski delivered a speech on labour migration from Eastern Europe and its impact on behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Group) at the PACE Plenary Session today.
In Jufereva-Skuratovski’s opinion, labour migration from Eastern Europe is a great problem. “Ukrainians stand out among the labour migrants from Eastern Europe – according to the data from 2017, there were more than 4.5 million of them. Besides the Ukrainians, there were 3 million Romanian, 2.5 million Polish and one million Bulgarian labour migrants. These are large figures, and if the labour migrants do not know how to stand for their interests, it will cause significant social problems for them and their families,” she said.
Jufereva-Skuratovski also spoke briefly about the situation in Estonia in her speech. “We, too, have very many labour migrants from Ukraine, and many of them come to Estonia with their families and children. There have been cases when labour migrants and their children do not have the necessary registrations, and the children therefore essentially have no right to study in school or go to kindergarten. I think that we have to find solutions to the problems concerning the labour migrants in cooperation with other countries,” Jufereva-Skuratovski said.
Estonia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1993. Our country is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe by the delegation appointed by the Riigikogu.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas met with Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary László Kövér in Budapest today. The Speakers found that Estonia and Hungary could deepen their cooperation at the level of parliamentary friendship groups and committees.
Põlluaas pointed out that Estonia and Hungary were united by related languages and close cultural cooperation, and the two countries had always had excellent relations. He added that it was now possible to tighten them even further. “So far, Estonia has looked more towards Western Europe, but it is time to turn our attention also to Central Europe, and to Visegrád countries,” Põlluaas said. Cooperation possibilities in security issues as well as in economy and culture were discussed with the Hungarian colleague.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa agreed that the future cooperation between the two countries could be more coordinated at parliamentary level. He emphasised that both Estonia and Hungary should be more active in the Eastern Partnership programme. The countries we are thinking and speaking about – Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine – certainly wish that,” Eesmaa said.
Member of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu Madis Milling welcomed Hungary’s decision to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2024. Hungary is also vigorously replacing the Soviet equipment and weapons that have remained in the country from the times of the Warsaw Pact with newer and more modern technology and weapons that completely conform to NATO standards,” Milling added.
This week, President of the Riigikogu is on a visit to Budapest at the invitation of the Speaker of the Parliament of Hungary. The purpose of the visit is to promote bilateral relations and learn about the latest developments in Hungary. Tomorrow, the Estonian delegation will visit the Estonian Institute in Hungary that promotes cooperation in culture and education, and meet with President of Hungary János Áder.
NordenBladet —Today and tomorrow, the IT experts from the parliaments of Europe meet in Tallinn, Estonia, to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to support the work in the parliament.
Administrative Director of the Chancellery of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Ahto Saks said that artificial intelligence (in Estonian, kratt) was already used in some parliaments for speech recognition, automatic translation and preparing of sitting reviews. “In the work of the Riigikogu, it is planned to involve kratt in speech recognition next year,” Saks pointed out.
“Speech recognition and automatic translation are two examples where the implementation of artificial intelligence has reached technological maturity,” Saks said. “We will discuss with colleagues if this will open the way also for other kratts in supporting the work in the parliament.”
At the seminar, the representatives of the parliaments of Switzerland, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark, and the European Parliament will tell about their experience in working with artificial intelligence.
During the two days of the seminar, introduction of different forms of i-voting and innovation in the public sector will also be discussed. Colleagues from the Danish and Norwegian parliaments and the European Parliament will share their experience in preparing the parliament for digital innovation.
Representatives of Spain, the Netherlands and Hungary will give an overview of work with structured data and using of cloud services in the information and communication technologies of the parliaments.
NordenBladet —This week, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas is on a visit to Budapest at the invitation of the Speaker of the Parliament of Hungary. The purpose of the visit is to promote bilateral relations and learn about the latest developments in Hungary.
“Estonians and Hungarians are united by ethnic fraternity, and we both consider it important to keep the identity of Finno-Ugric peoples,” Põlluaas said. He added that next year the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples would be held in Tartu, Estonia, and the President of Hungary had also been invited to attend. Põlluaas emphasised that mutual reopening of embassies in Tallinn and Budapest a year ago was a sign of the good cooperation between the two countries.
Today, the President of the Riigikogu and the Estonian delegation will visit the Embassy of Estonia. Tomorrow, Põlluaas will meet with Speaker of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Hungary László Kövér and Chairman of the Hungary-Estonia Friendship Group of the Hungarian Parliament Dr. Attila Tilki. On Friday, the Estonian delegation will visit the Estonian Institute that promotes cooperation in culture and education, and meet with President of Hungary János Áder Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó.
The President of the Riigikogu is accompanied on the visit by Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa and member of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu Madis Milling.
NordenBladet —At the meeting with President of Albania Ilir Meta today, President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas expressed support to Albania’s efforts to open accession negotiations with the European Union.
“Estonia strongly supports the opening of accession negotiations between the European Union and Albania. Further enlargement of the European Union is important to the stability of the Western Balkan region and the security of the whole Europe,” Põlluaas said. “Albania has good prospects of becoming a member state of the European Union in the future if the country meets the accession criteria. Estonia is ready to share its experience in this field.”
Põlluaas thinks that it is welcome that already now Albania has joined several European Union initiatives, like supporting the sanctions against Russia. As a member of NATO, Albania also contributes to the common security of Europe and has sent its troops to serve with the allied forces in Ādaži in Latvia.
“The relations between Albania and Estonia are excellent, but we could enhance primarily economic and trade relations,” Põlluaas said. “Estonia’s companies are interested in going to the Albanian market, and Albania is also an interesting but so far little known travel destination for the Estonians. And all Albanian tourists are welcome in Estonia.”
At the meeting, Põlluaas expressed his happiness that in spite of the earthquake that hit Albania a week ago, the President of Albania could make his first visit to Estonia. The President of the Riigikogu hopes that Albania will recover from the consequences of the earthquake soon.
Põlluaas thanked Albania for its support to Estonia at the elections of the non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, and assured that Estonia would support the candidacy of Albania for 2022–2023.
The President of Albania was interested in Estonia’s experience in e-governance and cyber issues, and gave an overview of the political situation in the Western Balkan region and the impact of the trends of the globalising world.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa, who also participated in the meeting, underlined the good relations between the two countries and expressed hope that relations at the parliamentary level would become closer.
Autumn Session of the PACE, held in Strasbourg this week, is to draw the attention of the majority of member states to the problems caused by Russia.
Head of the Estonian delegation, member of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski considers it important that the dialogue continues and Estonia participates in the Assembly. “In this complicated situation, Estonia has to take part in the dialogue and not boycott the work of the Assembly.”
Jufereva-Skuratovski said that the recent issue of restoring Russia’s rights was not on PACE’s agenda this time, but the main task of the Estonian delegation in Strasbourg was to keep an eye on and draw the attention of other member states to the consequences of Russia’s political activities.
“Russia’s rights in the Assembly were restored this summer on certain conditions, but we are not satisfied with it, because they break international agreements. We wish to cooperate with all member states who understand that for the restoration of full voting rights, Russia has to meet all requirements set to it,” Jufereva-Skuratovski said.
Member of the delegation Eerik-Niiles Kross added that the key activity at this session would be making the large Western countries aware of the seriousness of the crisis in PACE. “We will also continue to discuss with the like-minded countries the joint future actions that could restore PACE’s authority in longer perspective.”
“At the critical times for the Council of Europe, it is important for the Estonian delegation to be present and actively ask also sharp questions,” member of the Estonian delegation Indrek Saar said. “We and the countries that share our views have to do our best to ensure that this major organisation would not lose its purpose to stand for democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Today, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Amelie de Montchalin will make a speech at the session. Tomorrow, President of France Emmanuel Macron will address PACE and give an overview of the activities of France during its Presidency.
The Autumn Session of PACE will last until Friday. The Assembly will focus on the protection of whistleblowers and the victims of terrorism. It will also discuss reports on climate refugees and labour migration in Eastern Europe, and on obstetrical and gynaecological violence.
Estonia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1993. Our country is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe by the delegation appointed by the Riigikogu.
The Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Anneli Ott is participating at the meeting of the chairpersons of the European Union Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in Kaunas.
Ott said that the participating countries have similar views on the next budgetary period of the European Union. “The new budget is to include reduced Cohesion Policy payments, which is mainly the consequence of the British plan to leave the Union. The Baltic states and Poland are very keen that these payments should not be reduced significantly. Together we can defend these positions more strongly at the negotiations.” She added that Estonia would be among the transition regions during the new period, which could lead to increased cost-sharing in projects, and reduced payment volumes.
The Chairmen will discuss the status of the negotiations on the next European Union budgetary period (2021–2027).
In addition, the participants will discuss the programme of the Plenary Meeting of the COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union), which will be held in Helsinki in the beginning of December, and which will put great emphasis on climate issues.
The Lithuanians will also report on the progress regarding Rail Baltica in Lithuania. The participants will visit Kaunas railway hub, where work started this spring on the first stretch of Rail Baltica in Lithuania.
NordenBladet —Amendments relating to the Income Tax Act and the Social Tax Act were on the agenda for today’s plenary sitting of the Riigikogu. Both Bills passed the first reading.
The Bill on Amendments to the Income Tax Act (14 SE), initiated by the Estonian Reform Party Faction, is intended to exempt all pensions from income tax to the extent of average old-age pension.
The explanatory memorandum notes that such an amendment will also extend to survivor’s pension, and to working pensioners. The amendment covers payments from all pillars of the pension system.
According to the Bill, the Government will establish by its Regulation the procedure for calculating the average old-age pension in order to ensure that average old-age pension will be exempt from income tax monthly.
According to the data of the Social Insurance Board, the average old-age pension is 483 euro per month as of 1 April 2019. The next regular indexation of pensions is due in the first quarter of 2020.
Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party) took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to § 7 of the Social Tax Act (42 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction, is intended to lower the social tax rate to 13 per cent for the contributions that the employer makes to the employee’s pension fund. At the same time, the lower rate would apply to contributions that do not exceed the income tax exemption limit provided for in the Income Tax Act.
Under the current Social Tax Act, contributions made to an occupational pension fund are subject to a 33 per cent social tax. The Bill is intended to motivate employers to make larger-scale contributions to the voluntary pension insurance of the employee and thereby also to prompt employees to save additionally for their pension.
An occupational pension fund is a voluntary employee pension fund where contributions can be made for employees, public servants, and members of the management and control bodies of legal persons. According to the Income Tax Act, such amounts must not exceed 15 per cent of the gross earnings of the person in a calendar year or 6000 euro.
During the debate, Helmen Kütt (Social Democratic Party) and Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party) took the floor.