The first reading of a draft Resolution was cancelled due to the absence of the presenter. It was the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to amend the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act” (279 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group. The draft Resolution is intended to make a proposal to the Government to establish that the language of instruction for children of Ukrainian war refugees be Ukrainian when they study in Estonia.
Sikkut noted that, although Estonian people were living longer and healthier lives than ever before, Estonia’s health indicators were still far from Western European and Nordic health indicators. She pointed out that, in the strategy document, progress towards the set goals was measured by three indicators concerning health, namely healthy life years, deaths by accident, and obesity.
According to Sikkut, the number of deaths resulting from accidents, poisonings, and trauma has decreased over 20 years, but since 2019 we have been moving away from the target and with every year, we are moving further away from the target set for 2035. The minister noted that the number of alcohol and drug-related deaths was increasing every year, and falls at home had doubled since 2019. “So that, with regard to issues concerning the living environment, we clearly still have room for development,” Sikkut said.
The minister also mentioned the increase in obesity. “In the strategy ‘Estonia 2035’, the target is that less than half of the adult population in Estonia would be overweight. However, in 2022 the upward trend resulted in a situation where 53 per cent of the adult population is overweight,” she said. “The number of obese school children has tripled over 20 years, and every third student is obese.”
Sikkut pointed out that we needed an environment where it would be possible to make healthy choices. “For example, there is a pedestrian and cycle route from home to work, hot school meals are provided, school stadiums are not locked – a proposal made to local governments by the Minister of Education and Research – and hobby activities are affordable,” the minister said. She pointed out as an example that action was being taken for school meals to contain less carbohydrates. Sikkut added that it was also necessary to achieve a situation where people would make healthier choices themselves.
The minister emphasised children’s health as a priority. She pointed out a number of measures that could be agreed upon, for example, healthy school meals, starting the school day at 9 a.m., enabling breaks to be spent outdoors, as well as the establishment of a sugary drink tax and restriction of the use of smart devices outside teaching activities in school.
Sikkut spoke about prevention activities and inter-sectoral cooperation to reduce accidents and risky behaviour, including the restriction of alcohol consumption. She also focused on ensuring the availability and quality of health care services. The minister also spoke about the importance of mental health help and noted that exercise had a positive effect in the event of both obesity and mental health concerns.
The minister also addressed the sustainability and challenges of health care financing, including the budget deficit of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund and the need for more funding to ensure high-quality medical and shorter waiting lists. She also mentioned the gender, regional and educational gap in health and pointed out that strategy “Estonia 2035” aimed to reduce those gaps.
The minister underlined that improvement of the Estonian health care system required a long-term vision, and investments into prevention and the availability of services. In addition to that, she emphasised the importance of a social contract to support healthy lifestyles and to improve health care. She said, paraphrasing President Lennart Meri, that we were responsible for our health all together and everyone individually.
During the debate, Jaak Valge took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Karmen Joller on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Group, Aivar Kokk on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Irja Lutsar on behalf of Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Tanel Kiik on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group and Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party Group. Minister of Health Riina Sikkut also participated in the debate.
A draft Resolution was dropped from the proceedings
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to lower the VAT rate on medicines to treat cancer” (277 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was intended to make a proposal to the Government that, for medicinal products intended to treat cancer and other malignant tumours, the VAT rate be lowered to five per cent. The draft Resolution was also intended to make a proposal to the Government to establish a support measure for legal persons in private law for purchasing such medicinal products in order to improve the availability of medicinal products.
During the debate, Riina Solman from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Irja Lutsar from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor.
23 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution. The support of a majority of the membership of the Riigikogu, that is, 51 votes in favour, was needed for the draft Resolution to be passed. Thus, it did not receive the necessary support and was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
The first reading of a draft Resolution was adjourned
The first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to improve teachers’ working conditions” (373 OE), submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, was adjourned due to the end of the working hours of the sitting and will continue at tomorrow’s sitting.
The draft Resolution is intended to make a proposal to the Government to draft, by 1 May, legislative acts that would ensure that teachers’ salary would reach 120 per cent of the average salary in Estonia as agreed upon in the coalition agreement, and to establish from 2025 a four-tier career model for teachers that would be connected with pay rise as well as workload calculation and additional duties.
The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Atmospheric Air Protection Act (393 SE), initiated by the Environment Committee, was also deferred to the agenda for tomorrow’s sitting due to the end of the working hours of the sitting.
Photos (Author: Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Minister of Justice Kalle Laanet replied to the interpellation concerning the problems relating to procedural restrictions (No. 320), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Varro Vooglaid and Kalle Grünthal.
The interpellators asked two questions of the minister. First, do you admit that the problems relating to procedural restrictions are serious and need immediate attention to ensure the principle of the rule of law? And second, if the answer to the previous question is yes, does the Ministry of Justice have a plan to eliminate or mitigate the problem in question?
Laanet explained that the purpose of the Anti-corruption Act was in particular to prevent corruption and to ensure honest and impartial performance of public duties. “However, in the implementation of the Anti-corruption Act within the context of penal law, some problems arising from broad interpretation have indeed occurred that need serious attention,” Laanet admitted. He noted that the openness of the current Anti-corruption Act and the fact that its regulation was as flexible as possible had, on the one hand, helped avoid the schemes of “everything is legally correct” and, on the other hand, had placed on the bodies implementing the Act the responsibility to assess situations and an obligation to find suitable means to prevent corruption. “At the moment there are no signs that the course chosen is wrong,” the minister said.
Laanet admitted that, in the implementation of the Act, however, a lot of issues had arisen that had so far been resolved on an ongoing basis through guidelines and trainings provided by the Ministry of Justice. “I have personally met the Chancellor of Justice quite a few times during this year. We have also discussed how it would be possible to create better legal clarity precisely in connection with this violation of procedural restrictions,” Laanet said. “No specific legal provision has yet been drafted at the moment.”
According to Laanet, the Action Programme of the Government of the Republic provides that, by of the end of this year, the Anti-corruption Act should be analysed to specify the regulation relating to procedural restrictions.
“Nevertheless, procedural restrictions must continue to include cases where, in the performance of an act or making of a decision, the official is aware of an economic or other interest of that official or a person connected to him or her and which may have an impact on the act or decision,” the minister said. With the Bill, we are intending to make the regulation of procedural restriction clearer and narrower but not to normalise corruption in any area of life.
“After all, with every corruption case, it should also be very clear who profits from one or the other procedure, whether materially or morally. Of course, it is extremely complicated to assess moral profit but, after all, profiting is always an element in corruption,” Laanet said.
Laanet explained that the supervisory control that had been initiated in the previous week would have to provide an assessment of how the Prosecutor’s Office had been managed and how the development of the Prosecutor’s Office had been going. “It should provide a picture on the basis of which we would be able to assess what the management and all the activity has been like,” Laanet said. He referred to the fact that such supervisory control had never been carried out in the Prosecutor’s Office after Estonia had regained its independence.
Laanet also replied to the interpellation concerning the justification of the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Estonian Internal Security Service (No. 528).
Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas replied to the interpellation concerning the establishment of a pet register (No. 594), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
The interpellators withdrew from the proceedings the interpellations concerning the restrictions on the right of appeal to the Supreme Court (defence counsel requirements) (No. 336) and the Bill on the criminalisation of incitement of hatred (No. 503), submitted to Minister of Justice Kalle Laanet.
During the open microphone, Rain Epler and Helmen Kütt took the floor.
NordenBladet —As part of the Interflex training mission, Estonian Defense Forces will send up to 30 instructors to the United Kingdom to contribute to the basic military training of new recruits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. „Ukraine has been fighting against the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation for more than …
The Bill on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act and the Nature Conservation Act (392 SE), initiated by the National Defence Committee, passed the first reading. Its aim is to amend the legislation so that a danger area-based danger message could be transmitted not only during emergency response exercises, but also during military trainings, i.e. reservist training, large-scale exercise, and additional reservist training. The additional basis will allow for better preparation for responding to events threatening the life and health of people or national security also in the case when the exercise is organised with the aim of preparing the military defence of the country.
Another important amendment is that, in order to carry out military training more efficiently and to achieve the national defence objective, it will be possible to practice certain real capabilities, such as the installation and removal of engineer bridges on rivers. The Bill will create a legal basis for the Environmental Board to grant consent to the Defence Forces using the limited management zones and building exclusion zones of shores and banks for carrying out reservist trainings.
The purpose of the third amendment is to allow, in the building exclusion zones of shores and banks, the building of construction works that will ensure the national defence objective, as well as to allow, where immovables with waterside construction works are acquired to ensure national defence, owners of such immovables to be offered an exchange of the immovable for an equivalent immovable.
Tiit Maran took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the State Budget Act (391 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee, passed its first reading. It will increase the role of the Riigikogu in making budgetary decisions of constitutional institutions and will avoid a situation where the Government decides on the funding of the independent institutions whose task is to independently control and balance the activities of the executive.
The Bill will create the basis for the budget requests of constitutional institutions to be approved by the Finance Committee of the Riigikogu before a draft state budget is initiated in the Riigikogu. The Government will continue to have the right and obligation to assess the budget request of a constitutional institution. Constitutional institutions will submit budget requests in full to the Finance Committee and the Ministry of Finance, and in the event of disagreements, the Government will submit a dissenting opinion, with justification, to the Finance Committee. The resolution of the Finance Committee and the budget requests of constitutional institutions will be annexed to the explanatory memorandum of the draft state budget.
According to the Constitution, the Riigikogu, the President of the Republic, the National Audit Office, the Chancellor of Justice, and the Supreme Court, as constitutional institutions, are independent in their activities. Independence, as the basis of a democratic state based on the rule of law and the guarantor of the separation of powers, means, in the most general sense, that constitutional institutions must be free from pressure from other branches of government, in particular the executive, in the performance of their functions.
Jaak Aab took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.
Two Bills were dropped from the proceedings at the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Local Government Organisation Act (289 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was dropped from the proceedings. It would enable municipal councils to organise binding referendums and to establish the possibility for local residents to initiate referendums on public initiative.
During the debate, Varro Vooglaid took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party.
The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 48 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 13 were against, and thus the Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
The Bill on Amendments to the Government of the Republic Act (276 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, is intended to amend the Act so that, in respect of members of the Government, security check would be ensured during the whole period of validity of their permit to access state secrets.
During the debate, Anti Poolamets took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party.
The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 51 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 11 were against, and thus the Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
The Chairmen of Foreign Affairs Committees state that nearly a decade has elapsed since the unlawful seizure of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia, and we are currently two years into Russia’s full-scale and vicious onslaught against Ukraine “Amid the ongoing war, that has taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian lives and brought about vast human suffering and destruction, Russia is orchestrating a so-called election to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Crimea’s illegal annexation, in a clear act of provocation. Russia intends to extend these elections to the territories it has occupied and illegally annexed in Ukraine, in what appears to be an attempt to legitimize its temporary occupation of Ukrainian territory,” they write.
They note that since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has notably intensified its suppression of political dissent, and throttled the freedom of media, and civil liberties, by further squashing any opposition, including criminalizing expressions anti-war sentiment. Prospective anti-war candidates are being barred from participating in March 2024 Russia’s presidential elections, deplore the Chairmen.
“There’s no longer any room for civic or political opposition in Russia. The Russian government, especially under Putin, is not held accountable for egregious violations of human rights and political repressions, including the assassination of leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny, questioning Putin’s legitimacy in both domestic and international fora. Regardless of these despicable crimes, most Russian citizens continue to support Putin’s regime and the illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” they remark with sadness.
The Chairmen believe that the forthcoming presidential elections in Russia will neither be free or fair, and will be marred by a comprehensive crackdown on the opposition and independent media. They also see these suffering from a complete absence of legitimate alternatives and a lack of international oversight, that will render an outcome devoid of any semblance of democratic validity.
The Chairmen emphasise that conducting elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied and illegally annexed regions is a stark breach of international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, and Ukraine’s inalienable independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. “We unequivocally reject the legitimacy of the elections being conducted by Russia in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Such actions by Russia on Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory are entirely illegitimate and will not be recognized by the international community,” they pronounce.
“We stand in solidarity with Ukraine, affirming its full independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its recognized international borders, including Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk,” they declare in their statement, where they denounce Russia’s imperialistic actions and its ongoing aggression against Ukraine. They also reiterate the need for continued comprehensive support for Ukraine from the EU, its Member States, and allies globally, that encompass political, economic, financial, and military aid, as well as assistance for civil society and the reconstruction of the country. “This support stands as a critical countermeasure against the Kremlin’s oppressive and aggressive regime.”
The statement was signed by Chairmen of Foreign Affairs Committees of Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and USA. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson signed the statement on behalf of Estonia.
NordenBladet —Estonian Defence Force reservists and active-duty personnel participated in the nearly week-long Crystal Arrow 24 exercise in Latvia. The Estonian contingent was composed of reservists from the Cyber Command’s Strategic Communication Centre. This marks a unique occasion where an Estonian reserve unit trains abroad with full personnel. Crystal Arrow is …
Auditor General Janar Holm replied to the interpellation concerning the funding of cultural construction works of national importance (No. 600), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Priit Sibul, Tõnis Mölder, Mart Maastik, Helir-Valdor Seeder, Urmas Reinsalu and Riina Solman.
The interpellators referred to the fact that there were cultural facilities of national importance the list of which had been drawn up in the Riigikogu. Instead of including a new facility in the list, where there seems to be a consensus, it has now been decided to amend the Cultural Endowment Act and the Gambling Tax Act, instead of reviewing the list and the Act.
The interpellators wished to know how it was possible to fund, according to Estonian legislation, an additional cultural construction work so that it did not affect the completion of a cultural facility of national importance approved by Resolutions of the Riigikogu.
According to Holm, the issue is related to the fact that, according to the Bill referred to in the interpellation, the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia can decide, on the proposal of the Minister of Culture and if sufficient funds are available, the funding of a cultural construction work of national importance in addition to the cultural construction works of national importance approved by the Riigikogu, where this does not affect the completion of the cultural construction works of national importance approved by the Riigikogu.
The question of whether the funding of an additional cultural construction work may affect the completion of a cultural construction work of national importance approved by a Resolution of the Riigikogu arises in another case where the cost of facilities rises or where the construction of the facilities specified in the Resolution of the Riigikogu can be started earlier. “In my opinion, if an additional cultural construction work is added, this will not hinder the completion of the cultural construction works approved by a Resolution of the Riigikogu earlier as long as this does not postpone the start of their construction or prolong the construction period,” Holm said.
Holm said that, as the Auditor General, he was not in a position to provide an opinion on whether granting the decision-making power to the minister was justified or unjustified. By amending the Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act, it is possible for the Riigikogu to decide on different ways of distributing the funds received for cultural construction works, including in the form proposed in the current Bill. “From the point of view of procedural economy, however, the Riigikogu would have been able to achieve the aim sought with the Bill in a simpler way and with less procedural effort, if it had wished to do so,” Holm explained.
He pointed out that, according to the explanatory memorandum to the Bill, changes would be made to the decision-making process for the establishment of cultural construction works of national importance in order to create the possibility for the construction of a new television building for the Estonian Public Broadcasting. “In order to achieve this goal, it would have been enough for the Riigikogu to amend by its Resolution the shortlist of cultural objects of national importance by including a new facility: a new TV building of the Estonian Public Broadcasting,” Holm said.
Starting from 1996, the Riigikogu has granted the status of a proposed cultural facility of national importance. If the Bill is adopted, the Minister of Culture will decide on the cultural facility of national importance to be presented for approval to the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu and for decision to the supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment.
The interpellators referred to the fact that the Riigikogu had made a decision to fund the film industry hub, one of the five facilities mentioned in the Act. Now it has emerged that an international film studio complex in Jõhvi is going to be established from the funds of the Transition Fund.
Holm explained that, according to the data of the National Audit Office, no decision had yet been made on the financing of the construction of the Jõhvi international film studio complex. According to the information we have received, a decision will be made in March or April. However, at the end of January, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications approved a programme for incubation services in Ida-Viru County which is part of a comprehensive programme to establish two incubation centres in Jõhvi for film industry production support services and the development of digital multimedia services.
Holm pointed out that, whether channelling public money from different sources to the establishment of various film industry hubs was justified, could also be assessed by the Riigikogu itself who had approved the list of cultural construction works of national importance.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas replied to interpellations that concerned the critical demographic situation in Estonia (No. 597), the Estonia-based business activities relating to Russia during the war in Ukraine (No. 598) and the negative impacts of the car tax on families with children (No. 602).
The interpellators withdrew from the proceedings the interpellation that concerned the Government’s plan to close down Koidula border crossing point (No. 426), submitted to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee Liisa Pakosta said that Estonia had had a critical role in nudging other Member States and the Commission to give the necessary attention and support to defence industry. Pakosta pointed out that joint funding of defence industry and the easing of restrictions were crucial in the current security situation.
“Throughout its history, the European Union has highlighted its role as a peacekeeper and has awkwardly pushed the defence industry somewhere under the table. Finally, it has been realised that peace requires iron deterrence as well as giving much more assistance to Ukraine with weapons and technology than it has been done so far,” Pakosta said. She underlined that in doing this, it was very important to get more clarity about the funding, which may concern each citizen of European Union. “New jobs and the role of the defence industry in developing economy and innovation are also essential,” Pakosta hopes.
According to the Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee, the members of the Riigikogu wish to get an overview of what the EU’s new defence industry strategy will mean for Estonia, what will be the impact of the strategy on Estonia’s security, and also hear about the positions of the Estonian defence and space industries regarding the strategy.
The strategy outlines the details and exploitation potential of developing the technological and industrial base of the European defence sector and charts the course for the next decade. The strategy sets out that at least 40% of defence equipment should be jointly procured by 2030. It also establishes targets to ensure that an increasing number of defence procurements remain within the EU.
At the sitting, Head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia Vivian Loonela, Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur, CEO of the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association Kalev Koidumäe and members of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu will address the topic.
The public sitting of the European Union Affairs Committee will held in the Riigikogu Conference Hall, starting at 1 p.m. It will be streamed online. Video recording will be available to watch on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
For more information, please contact: Liisa Pakosta, phone +372 502 6191
In his letter, Hussar expressed his conviction that Sweden’s accession would further strengthen the bonds of friendship and partnership between Estonia and Sweden, from here on also through our collaborative efforts within NATO. “In these challenging times, marked by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, our shared commitment to supporting Ukraine is crucial for forging a more secure future for Europe. Collaborating within the NATO framework will undoubtedly enhance our collective security and foster greater cooperation across the Nordic and Baltic regions,” he wrote.
Estonia was among the first countries to approve the NATO accession protocols of Finland and Sweden in the beginning of July 2022. Finland joined NATO on 4 April last year.