NordenBladet — Today, Vice-President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Siim Kallas, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa and member of the Estonian Delegation to the Baltic Assembly Johannes Kert participate in the Eastern Partnership Conference of the Baltic Assembly in Vilnius.

The Conference will discuss the future of the Eastern Partnership programme, which was started ten years ago, and search for possibilities for harmonising and improving international cooperation. Besides that, the admission of potential new members is also one of the issues to be discussed.

Vice-President of the Riigikogu Siim Kallas said that one of the keywords of the conference was ‘near future’ – what the next decade would bring us, and how to set the right course in the name of better future and cooperation.

“During its first years of activity, the Eastern Partnership has proven its usefulness. It has helped adapt to new challenges and strengthened our mutually beneficial relations. Also, the impact of the programme on the development of the democracy, stability and security of the Eastern Partners cannot be underestimated,” Kallas added.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa said that the implementation of the reforms agreed on with the Eastern Partners would be the main goal in the coming years in order to ensure the positive impact and continuing success of the Partnership. Eesmaa emphasised the crucial role of civil society in achieving that.

Member of the Estonian Delegation to the Baltic Assembly Johannes Kert thinks it is necessary to support the Eastern Partners and to acknowledge their achievements in order to encourage them to continue with the reforms. “It is the role of the Baltic Assembly to help explain the needs and aims of the Eastern Partners to the Western countries and the Nordic States. Supporting the Eastern Partners is also important from the point of view of the security of the region, because countries sharing the same values are stronger when they are together,” Kert said. “Estonia has always supported and will continue to support the Eastern Partnership countries, sharing our experience and knowledge with them.”

Eastern Partnership is the cooperation programme of the European Union with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Its aim is to build up a more prosperous, stable and democratic region to bring the Eastern Partnership countries closer to the European Union.

In discussions on the future, the enlargement of the programme will also definitely be spoken about. According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, 43 per cent of the public support further enlargement of the European Union, while 45 per cent is against the admission of new countries.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed unamended the Act on Amendments to the Estonian Defence Forces Organisation Act which the President of the Republic had refused to proclaim.

Renewed deliberation of the Act on Amendments to the Estonian Defence Forces Organisation Act (783 UA) was held in the Riigikogu. It extends the existing rights of the Defence Forces in checking the background persons, in order to verify their suitability to serve or be employed in the Defence Forces or to cooperate with the Defence Forces. According to the Act, the Defence Forces are able to perform acts to a wider extent than the verification against registers, and to use covert measures to ensure that the collection of information is covert, upon obtaining information needed for background check.

The President of the Republic refused to proclaim the Act on 7 March. According to the President’s opinion, the Act was in conflict with §§ 13, 26, 33 and 43 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia.

During the debate, Hanno Pevkur (Reform Party), Jaak Madison (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Andres Metsoja (Isamaa) took the floor.

53 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act without amendments and 31 voted against.

One Bill passed the first reading in the Riigikogu:

The Bill on Amendments to the Tobacco Act and the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (9 SE), initiated by the Government, will transpose two articles of the EU Tobacco Directive, on the basis of which a European-wide tracking and tracing system for tobacco products will be implemented to curb the black market in tobacco. The Bill with similar content was approved at the sitting of the Government on 6 December 2018. However, the second reading of the Bill in the Riigikogu was suspended at the wish of the Minister of Health and Labour.

In order to establish a traceability system, tobacco manufacturers and importers conclude data storage contracts for the purpose of hosting information related to products. Access to the data is important and must be ensured to the authority interested in the data (the Tax and Customs Board in Estonia) and the European Commission.

As part of the tracking and tracing system, a security feature simplifying the verification of whether or not a tobacco product is authentic will also be introduced for the sales package of tobacco products. In Estonia, tax stamp will be introduced as the security feature. It complies with the requirements of EU legislation and is at the same time the most convenient solution for tobacco manufacturers and importers. In the cases where no tax stamp is installed on a product (e.g. in duty-free shops), the security feature of the manufacturer will have to be installed on the product. The tobacco manufacturer or importer will develop it, taking into account the requirements of the law and EU legislation.

During the debate, Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa) and Vilja Toomast (Reform Party) took the floor.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — Today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas met with Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Moon Hee-sang and the delegation accompanying him.

At the beginning of the meeting, Põlluaas expressed his condolences to his colleague on the boat disaster in Hungary, in which citizens of South Korea lost their lives.

The meeting focused on the excellent relations and further cooperation between the two countries. “The cooperation between Estonia and the Republic of Korea is very good, and mutual interest is increasing,” Põlluaas said. In his opinion, there is potential for even closer cooperation at the level of the governments and the businesses. Põlluaas expressed hope that South Korea would be ready to open its market to Estonian food products. He added that there were several fields of activity where the two countries could be useful to one another.

Moon Hee-sang confirmed South Korea’s strong support to Estonia’s candidacy for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Both parties pointed out mutual interest in developing of research and new technologies. Moon Hee-sang said that Estonia was one of the most powerful digital countries, and an example to others with its e-governance solutions. Põlluaas invited South Korea to share with Estonia its experience in the 5G networks, where they are the global leader.

The colleagues also discussed reduction of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Põlluaas expressed concern about the North Korean nuclear programme and missile tests, and reaffirmed Estonia’s readiness for full cooperation both in the European Union and in the United Nations to resolve the situation. Moon Hee-sang emphasised that the global community supported South Korea in this issue, and that the country was optimistic about the peace process.

Chair of the Estonia-Republic of Korea Parliamentary Group Urve Tiidus also participated in the meeting. She acknowledged the country’s investments into research and development. In her opinion, South Korea is the world leader in this field, and an example for all. Tiidus also said that she was happy that the Korean tourists had discovered Estonia. She expressed hope that the interest of Koreans in Estonia would grow after today’s visit.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — Tomorrow, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas hosts Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Moon Hee-sang and the delegation accompanying him.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — The Security Authorities Surveillance Select Committee, the Anti-Corruption Select Committee and the State Budget Control Select Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) elected their chairs and deputy chairs at the sittings of the committees today.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — At its sitting today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) decided to submit the Bill on the Approval of the Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of North Macedonia to the plenary sitting.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa pointed out that North Macedonia was one of the four countries, besides Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine, that had set accession to NATO as their important foreign policy target. “NATO continues its open door policy, and North Macedonia’s success story is a good example to others who strive to become members of the Alliance,” Eesmaa emphasised.

Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson believes that North Macedonia’s accession to NATO will enhance the security of the organisation and its member states, and improve the foreign policy situation because it will increase security and stability in Europe. “When the protocol enters into force, Estonia commits to defend North Macedonia, and North Macedonia will commit to defend Estonia,” Mihkelson emphasised.

The defence spending of North Macedonia forms 0.96 per cent of its GDP, but their government aims to reach the target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence by 2024.

The naming dispute with Greece, which hindered the accession of North Macedonia to NATO for a long time, was resolved at the beginning of this year, and “the Republic of North Macedonia” became the new official name of the country.

North Macedonia will become the 30th member of NATO after all current NATO member states have approved the protocol on accession according to their national law. Considering the earlier practice, the approval process may take several years. Greece was the first NATO member state to ratify the protocol on 8 February this year.

The discussion of the Bill on the Approval of the Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of North Macedonia, initiated by the Government of Estonia, is planned for the 4 June sitting of the Riigikogu.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — On the open House Day of the Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia, nearly 3000 people came to Toompea to visit the Riigikogu, learn about the work of the Parliament, meet the politicians and see the rooms they work in. The most popular activities were guided tours of the Riigikogu and visits to the Tall Hermann Tower. The representative rooms and working rooms of the Riigikogu were open all day. All factions also opened their doors, and it was possible to meet the MPs.

Many visitors came from foreign countries, like Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Riigikogu Open House Day began with a welcome concert by mixed choir HUIK! on the balcony of Toompea Castle, after that, President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas greeted the visitors in the courtyard of the Castle.

At Question Time at noon, it was possible to pose questions to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, Minister of the Interior Mart Helme and Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu.

Kaido Höövelson, Marina Kaljurand, Kai Rimmel, Andres Sutt and Raivo Tamm, who had been elected to the Riigikogu for the first time, exchanged ideas at a discussion in the café. They were interviewed by Member of the Parliament Enn Eesmaa.

Two teams from the Riigikogu and five school teams participated in the traditional quiz of the Open House Day. This year, the topic of the quiz was “Riigikogu 100”. The team Riigikogu I, which consisted of member of the Riigikogu Urmas Espenberg and Advisers of the Legal and Research Department Toivo Mängel and Triinu Põdramägi and Adviser, Head of Secretariat of the Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu Kristo Varend, won the quiz. Tallinn Technical Gymnasium team was the best school team.

To celebrate the Estonian Language Year, actors of NUKU Theatre Anti Kobin and Taavi Tõnisson read stories from the treasury of the Estonian children’s literature in the Children’s Room. The National Library of Estonia and Tallinn Central Library attended with a pop-up library. There were reading nests and different workshops for children, including the workshop Priuse Piddo (Festival of Freedom) of the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum. The year of the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration was celebrated by dancing with the dancers of the Folklore Society Leigarid.

The Open House Day ended with a Good Mood Concert of the little stars from Star Stage, led by singer Sissi.

With the Open House Day, the Riigikogu celebrated its 100th anniversary.

The first representative body elected by the people in independent Estonia – the Constituent Assembly – convened in Estonia Theatre in Tallinn on 23 April 1919. The Riigikogu commemorates that event every year with the Open House Day.

In 2019, the Open House day was held on 25 May, because on that day 100 years ago, the Constituent Assembly moved from Estonia Theatre to Toompea.

The Open House Day tradition was introduced in 1999.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — On Saturday, the Parliament of Estonia the Riigikogu celebrates its 100th anniversary with the traditional Open House Day, which is dedicated to the year of the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration and the Estonian Language Year.

The Riigikogu Open House Day will begin with a welcome concert by mixed choir HUIK! on the balcony of Toompea Castle. President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas will greet the visitors in the courtyard of the Castle.

It is possible to meet the members of the Riigikogu in the offices of the factions, and pose questions to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, Minister of the Interior Mart Helme and Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu at Question Time, which begins at noon.

Kaido Höövelson, Katri Raik, Kai Rimmel, Andres Sutt and Raivo Tamm, who have been elected to the Riigikogu for the first time, will exchange ideas at a discussion in the café. They will be interviewed by Member of the Parliament Enn Eesmaa.

Guided tours take place throughout the whole day, and everyone can visit the Tall Hermann Tower.

This year, the topic of the traditional quiz for the teams of schools and the Riigikogu is “The Riigikogu 100”.

To celebrate the Estonian Language Year, actors of NUKU Theatre Anti Kobin and Taavi Tõnisson will read stories from the treasury of the Estonian children’s literature in the Children’s Room. The National Library of Estonia and Tallinn Central Library will open a pop-up library. There will be reading nests and different workshops for children, including the workshop Priuse piddo (Festival of Freedom) of the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum. The year of the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration can be celebrated by dancing with the dancers of the Folklore Society Leigarid. The Open House Day will end with a Good Mood Concert by the little stars from Star Stage, led by singer Sissi.

The first representative body elected by the people in independent Estonia, the Constituent Assembly, convened in Estonia Theatre in Tallinn on 23 April 1919. The Riigikogu commemorates it every year with the Open House Day, which takes place for the 21st time this year. In 2019, the Open House day is held on 25 May, because on that day 100 years ago, the Constituent Assembly moved from Estonia Theatre to Toompea.

The entrance, and all activities and events are free.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu received an overview of the 2018 Annual Report of the Financial Supervision Authority from Kilvar Kessler, Chairman of the Management Board of the Financial Supervision Authority.

Kessler said that, under the law, the central task of the Financial Supervision Authority was the stability and credibility of the financial market. “The Estonian market has stayed relatively stable, market participants are solvent, and are thereby giving people confidence that the financial market is able to successfully perform its task as economic circulation and risk bearer,” Kilvar Kessler noted in his report.

“We protect the interests of depositors, policy holders and others by checking if the capital, organisational management and provision of financial services of financial intermediaries are in compliance with law, and their adequacy in terms of the business model implemented and the risks taken,” Kessler pointed out.

The Chairman of the Management Board said that, where possible and necessary, the Financial Supervision Authority also helped investigative bodies in the unravelling of complicated financial market violations. “In my opinion, cooperation and in particular two-way information exchange between various government bodies is very important for addressing risks comprehensively,” he said.

“Besides the routine supervision, from autumn 2018 to spring 2019, in connection with prevention of money laundering, the Financial Supervision Authority implemented a special project with regard to all banks operating in Estonia who provide payment services,” Kessler noted. “On the positive side, we can state that the risks related to the servicing of non-residents have decreased. Most of the banks take seriously the continuing reduction of risks and better monitoring of risks. However, there are weaknesses in banks’ systems and in the risk sensibility of risk management systems,” he said. Kessler pointed out that legislation as well as the Financial Supervision Authority wished to see risk-sensible management systems where larger potential risks were addressed more thoroughly while well-known ordinary clients were treated more leniently.

“A large share of the Estonian market is comprised of banking groups. Three or four larger universal banks and smaller banks can be singled out here. They all share a common denominator in that they are very strongly capitalised,” Kessler said. “Loan damages are small, that is, the banks have credited responsibly in general. No reproaches can be made to the overall level of digitalisation either. From the euro area perspective, the Estonian banking is among the most highly digitalised,” he noted.

“This year, Luminor was established in Estonia by cross-border merger of many different credit institutions. It is the largest bank in Estonia which also includes risks from Latvia and Lithuania. The bank portfolios of the relevant countries are even larger than that of Estonia. This means that supervision must also be able to perceive and mange cross-border risks as well as to prevent and resolve crises,” Kessler said. He pointed out that the Baltic, Scandinavian and European Union financial supervisors and other parties concerned had joined their forces last year and had played through a theoretical regional financial crisis at the beginning of this year. “The results of the exercise have been analysed and the shortcomings have been sorted out, and the parties have been given feedback. As a general assessment I state that the Estonian authorities who participated in the game were well up to their tasks,” Kessler said.

Kessler pointed out that the year 2018 had been significant to the whole euro area as the European Central Bank had decided to revoke the licence of Versobank on the basis of a statement by the Financial Supervision Authority after a thorough deliberation. “That credit institution had been significantly violating money laundering prevention rules for a long time, and had ignored precepts to improve its activities from a supervisory authority. Estonia gave a very strong signal there that Estonia did not tolerate banks that engaged in suspicious business,” Kessler noted.

“The current systems are however very mechanistic and at the same time vulnerable at places. Banks earn decent profits and there is no reason to withhold investments in the necessary systems. Why not make them the best among their kind, and thereby support the image of e-Estonia a well,” Kessler said.

Kessler noted that, since 2004, the Financial Supervision Authority had consistently been drawing its partners’ attention to the fact that fines in the financial sector were not effective. He also touched on the issue of long-term proceedings and noted that such proceedings were ineffective and had to be replaced with simpler proceedings. “We are going to make our proposals in the form of a legislative draft to the Governmental committee for the coordination of money laundering prevention,” the Chairman of the Management Board said.

In Kessler’s words, the central task of the Financial Supervision Authority is to maintain financial stability and to see to the fair and transparent functioning of financial markets as a whole.

During the debate, Riina Sikkut from the Social Democratic Party Faction and Jürgen Ligi from the Reform Party Faction took the floor.

The Riigikogu passed three Resolutions:

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the State Budget Control Select Committee” (11 OE), submitted by the Constitutional Committee, provides for the formation of the State Budget Control Select Committee which includes one member from each faction.

The purpose of the committee is to ensure, in cooperation with the National Audit Office, control over the Government of the Republic in terms of the implementation of the state budget and sustainable, efficient, effective and lawful use of the state assets and state budget funds.

74 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Security Authorities Surveillance Select Committee” (12 OE), submitted by the Constitutional Committee, provides for the formation of the Security Authorities Surveillance Select Committee. The committee exercises supervision over authorities of executive power in matters relating to the activities of the security authorities and surveillance agencies, including guarantee of fundamental rights and efficiency of the work of the security authorities and surveillance agencies, and also in matters relating to supervision exercised over the security authorities and surveillance agencies.

The Draft Resolution provides that the membership of the committee will be formed based on the principle of parity so that the committee will include one member from each faction.

The committee submits an overview of the activities of the committee and the results thereof to the Riigikogu at least once a year.

75 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Anti-Corruption Select Committee” (13 OE), submitted by the Constitutional Committee, provides for the formation of the Anti-Corruption Select Committee which includes one member from each faction.

The committee performs the functions provided for in § 9 of the Anti-corruption Act, and exercises the rights arising from the Anti-corruption Act and the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act to perform its functions.

76 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution.

At the beginning of the plenary sitting, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology Kert Kingo took her oath of office.

Arto Aas announced his resignation from the Riigikogu in connection with taking up the post of Director of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NordenBladet — At the meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) confirmed Estonia’s continuing support to North Macedonia and acknowledged the country’s aspirations in continuing the Euro-Atlantic integration.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa said that solving the years-long naming dispute with Greece was an example of good political will where two countries had been able to overcome a complicated confrontation. Eesmaa added that now the naming dispute no longer hindered North Macedonia’s aspirations in joining NATO and the European Union.

“Estonia has always supported and continues to support your country’s accession to NATO and the European Union,” Eesmaa assured the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia. Eesmaa said that in the nearest future the Riigikogu would ratify the protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia, which had been approved by the Government of Estonia earlier this week. When the protocol has been approved by all member states, North Macedonia will become the 30th member state of NATO.

Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson welcomed the future new ally and expressed hope that the cooperation in the Alliance would be excellent. “Estonia has always supported enlargement of NATO,” Mihkelson said. “Now that you have made the decisive steps towards NATO, you can focus on implementing the important reforms that are necessary for opening the accession negotiations with the European Union.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia spoke of the preparations of the country for joining NATO and of the ongoing reforms that were necessary for opening the accession negotiations with the EU.

At the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia was given an overview of the work of the Parliament of Estonia. The security policy situation of the Balkan region, hybrid threats and common responsibility in fighting against disinformation were also discussed at the meeting.

Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Keit Pentus-Rosimannus and Raivo Tamm also participated in the meeting.

Source: Parliament of Estonia