The Bill on Amendments to the Vital Statistics Registration Act (106 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Varro Vooglaid, intended to amend the procedure for registering a child in a case where the child is born at home or on the way to a provider of health care services. The Bill would allow the relevant certificate to be issued in such cases by the family doctor.
Under the current legislation, in many cases where a child has been born at home or on the way to the hospital, the parents have found themselves forced to pass a DNA test to prove maternity and use this to apply for the registration of the birth through a court. Despite this, the law does not provide a procedure for proving maternity, and the abovementioned need to take a DNA test is simply a practice that has been adopted by the courts.
During the debate, Helmen Kütt (Social Democratic Party), Anti Poolamets (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), and Mart Maastik (Isamaa) took the floor on behalf of their parliamentary groups.
The lead committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 46 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 20 were against it. The Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
At 2 p.m., the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak in the Session Hall of the Riigikogu. The speech can be followed live either in Ukrainian, or with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian or English on the web page of the Riigikogu. After the speech, a family photograph will be taken in the Session Hall with members of the Riigikogu.
The text of the speech can be read later from the verbatim record and the video recording can be viewed on the Riigikogu YouTube channel. Photos will be uploaded as soon as possible (author: (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu).
The Bill on Amendments to the State Assets Act and the Land Cadastre Act (327 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, was intended to regulate the specifications for the transfer of national defence land by the state.
The Bill proposed that, if the state transfers, at a public auction, an immovable containing a cadastral unit with the intended purpose of national defence land, the detailed spatial plan established for the cadastral unit will be repealed as of the day following the transfer. According to the Bill, the cadastral unit would have become land not designated for a specific purpose in order that the new owner would be able to apply for a relevant intended purpose to be determined for the cadastral unit.
In addition, it was intended to provide that, if a cadastral unit with the intended purpose of national defence land contains construction works intended to be used as internal security or defence forces engineering works, this intended purpose will be repealed as of the day following the transfer of the immovable.
Andres Metsoja from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The lead committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 46 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 17 voted against. Thus, the Bill was dropped from the proceedings of the Riigikogu.
The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Prosecutor’s Office Act (105 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Kert Kingo, Varro Vooglaid and Martin Helme, was cancelled due to the absence of the presenter.
After the sitting, Estonia-Angola and Estonia-Montenegro Parliamentary Friendship Groups will be formed on the initiative of Peeter Tali.
The Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas replied to the interpellation concerning the impact of the green transition in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture (No. 341), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Rain Epler, Kert Kingo and Kalle Grünthal.
Kallas explained that, without doubt, the green transition was having major impact precisely on the food production sector and particularly on primary production in agriculture.
“As a generalisation, it can be said that all impacts arising from the green transition, above all on agriculture, are mainly due to the fact that climate change needs to be taken into account,” Kallas emphasised.
He explained that the green transition may not have as good and positive an image as does the sustainable use of the environment and the use of environmental resources. We will definitely need to make a joint effort in this regard. “Therefore I am saying that Estonia has been moving slowly and steadily in terms of sustainable resource use. We have made several right decisions in view of how such decisions have been made in our neighbouring countries,” the minister said. He admitted that there were several decisions with which Estonia had indeed in a sense fallen behind the trends and good developments that could have been in use in Estonia already earlier.
Kallas noted that the main principle had always been that, in the case of state intervention, the economic, environmental as well as social dimensions must always be taken into account. “I think that if we keep these three indicators in mind all the time, we will actually end up making right decisions without suppressing any of these three important aspects or raising any of these three aspects too high,” Kallas said. According to him they need to be viewed in conjunction so that these decisions would be balanced and that they would support the sectors in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and would not be detrimental in any way.
When speaking of measures, the minister said that they actually contained the grants of the whole common agricultural policy. This will be over 1.5 billion euro for Estonia in the next period.
“One way or another we have also kept in mind how we could use our natural resources more sustainably, at the same time not forgetting the economic aspects and social aspects,” Kallas said.
These processes in the area of administration of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture have been launched already much earlier. “All the activities that have been carried out in agriculture, land use, and food production are to my mind already going in the right direction, considering the outcomes of previous common agricultural policy periods. At the same time, we must not forget the economic side of rural life and the social side of rural life,” Kallas said.
The Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas also replied to the interpellation concerning the rise in expenses (No. 354).
The Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo replied to the interpellation concerning the amendment of the Family Law Act (No. 256), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
The Minister of Culture Heidy Purga replied to the interpellation concerning the endangering of the independence of press publications (No. 345), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
The Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas replied to the interpellations concerning the closing down of schools in rural areas (No. 406), the integral impact of the tax package (No. 443), and support specialists (No. 487), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
Due to the absence of interpellators, it was not possible to discuss the interpellation concerning the integral impact of the tax package (No. 301), submitted to the Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas.
Due to the absence of interpellators, it was not possible to discuss the interpellation concerning g the rise in VAT (No. 417), submitted to the Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas.
The initiators withdrew the interpellations concerning the integral impact of the tax package (No. 235) and the impact of the green transition in the area of administration of the Ministry of Social Affairs (No. 237), submitted to the Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo. The interpellation concerning the impact of inflation on the area of administration of the Ministry of Culture (No. 265), submitted to the Minister of Culture Heidy Purga, and the interpellation concerning the rise in VAT (No. 323), submitted to the Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas, were also withdrawn.
Hussar said in his New Year Address, broadcast on the national TV channel ETV, that the greatest hope of last year had sadly failed – the war between Ukraine and Russia had not ended. “We can only hope that the brand new year will bring peace in the shape of Ukraine’s victory, or at least under the conditions worded by President Zelenskyy. Until this has happened, we will be unable to shake off the shadow of war that walks beside us,” he said.
He sees Estonia as a country of realists who put their money where their mouth is when it comes to our security policy – Estonia is buying weapons and ammunition because the only way to prevent a war is to prepare for it. “Our neighbourhood is a historical inevitability and although ethnicity and culture have no price tags, national defence must be paid for according to the invoices submitted to the society,” he stated, expressing his conviction that we would succeed and that Estonia is stronger today than ever before thanks to our common efforts and the contribution of our allies.
Hussar sees one of the greatest challenges of the new year as linked to the objective set out in the preamble of the Estonian Constitution to preserve our language and culture. “The Estonians are a modern nation and finally we are able to do something that every self-respecting European nation has done long ago – the education system will transfer wholesale to the official language. The actual beginning of the reform of the language of instruction will be one of the key steps of this year. This step will take years and all the results will only appear decades from now,” he said.
The President of the Riigikogu remarked that the transfer to a common Estonian school would help to dispel the illusion that people who were physically living side by side lived on different planets culturally. He sees it as a major misconception of the last decades in Estonia. “Similarly, politics in Estonia have artificially kept up the perception that there are several different Estonias that rotate on closed orbits and only rarely meet, unable to politely agree to disagree when they do. We only have one Estonia, and it is up to every one of us to treasure it,” he declared.
Hussar referred to the twentieth anniversary of Estonia’s membership in the European Union, which is coming up this spring, and also to the elections to the European Parliament, where the debate on the environment and energy is set to become a key topic. “I hope that this will be based on scientific facts, will adequately assess the state of our ever more rapidly warming planet, and propose solutions for the future,” he said.
He would also like to see the new year bring along a plan for the Estonian economy, which would give our businesses the freedom and the opportunity to succeed. “The Estonian economy is as strong as are our businesses, as attractive as is our business environment, and as quick as is our progress through innovation. In the end, we all depend on the well-being of the Estonian economy,“ said the President of the Riigikogu.
During the autumn session, the Riigikogu held 48 regular sittings and 1 additional sitting. Together with 12 Question Times, the working time of the plenary was 294 hours and 53 minutes. The Riigikogu passed 17 Acts; the adoption of 13 of these Acts had been declared to be a matter of confidence in the Government. The Parliament of Estonia also adopted 21 Resolutions, and one Statement, which was made in support of the State of Israel and its people.
Of the committees, the biggest burden fell on the Finance Committee, which was the lead committee for 13 Bills. The National Defence Committee was the lead committee for nine Bills and the Social Affairs Committee for five Bills during the autumn session. Altogether, the 15th Riigikogu, which was elected in March this year and convened for the first time on 10 April, has adopted 70 legal acts.
According to the law, regular sessions of the Riigikogu are held from the second Monday in January to the third Thursday in June, and from the second Monday in September to the third Thursday in December. The Riigikogu will convene again for regular sittings on 8 January.
In the meantime, the committees of the Riigikogu will continue their work and the members of the Riigikogu perform their other functions. If necessary, extraordinary sessions may be held between the regular sessions. Extraordinary sessions can be convened by the President of the Riigikogu on the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Government of the Republic or at least 21 members of the Riigikogu.
The Members of the Riigikogu write in their communication, which was initiated by the Estonia-France Parliamentary Friendship Group, that the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow athletes from aggressor states Russia and Belarus to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as „neutral“ athletes goes against our values. “The IOC decision to let “neutral” individuals to take part was described as “respecting human rights.” We think that murder, destruction, and terror does not go together with Olympic principles,” they wrote.
The Members of the Riigikogu pointed out that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General has recorded more than 110,000 cases of war crimes. “That is why we think that until the war is brought to an end, Russian and Belarussian athletes should not be allowed to take part in international competition, including the Olympic Games, the world’s foremost sports competition,” they stated in the communication.
The Members of the Riigikogu referred to the decision of the Riigikogu from the 18 October 2022 to declare Russia a terrorist regime and the Russian Federation a country that supports terrorism, whose actions must be confronted together. “It is usual for dictators and authoritarian regimes to weaponize sport as an instrument of expanding their influence. For Russia and the Putin regime sport is primarily a political tool; this has been clearly demonstrated by the fact that Russia has a state-sponsored doping programme,” they emphasised.
The Members of the Riigikogu feel unable to ignore the fact that those athletes are supported by their governments, as well as businesses backing up current regimes in Russia and Belarus. “Moreover, we have seen over recent years that Russia has been exploiting the presence of “neutral“ athletes at international competitions in its state propaganda, which includes glorifying the aggressor’s military and promoting military recruitment. A ban on Russian athletes currently serving in the military does not adequately prevent that,” they warned.
The Members of the Riigikogu feel the moral obligation to stand for peace in Europe and they cannot simply refrain from acting when the IOC decides to allow aggressor states’ athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games. They also pointed out that the decision is contrary to the official values of the IOC itself.
“Therefore, we, the undersigned Members of the Estonian Parliament, call on the Republic of France as the host country to not let athletes with Russian and Belarussian passport to enter France in 2024 for the Olympic Games. This has to be done for the sake of the Ukrainian sporting community, athletes around the world, and future generations who deserve to live in a world where aggression as a political tool has been completely discredited and the values we hold dear as part of the Olympic movement have been maintained,” they declared in the communication.
The communication was signed by the President of the Estonia-France Parliamentary Friendship GroupAndres Sutt, and the members of the GroupToomas Kivimägi,Eerik-Niiles Kross,Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart,Lauri Laats,Eero Merilind,Liisa-Ly Pakosta,Heljo Pikhof,Henn Põlluaas,Mati Raidma,Kersti Sarapuu,Aivar Sõerd,Vilja Toomast,andKristo Enn Vaga.
On 22 November, the Riigikogu had passed the Act on Amendments to the Land Tax Act and the Taxation Act (297 UA), initiated by the Government. It is intended to amend the rules for electronic delivery of documents in order to enhance tax proceedings. According to the Act, in the future, in the case of legal persons, documents will be deemed to be delivered once five working days have passed since they were uploaded to e-tax board or forwarded to e-mail. At present, for documents to be deemed to be delivered, the legal person must either open the documents in e-tax board or confirm by e-mail that they have received the documents. The Act also restricts the right of natural persons to receive documents on paper. The person will lose this right once they have already received the document electronically. The amendments are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2023.
The Government had declared the passing of the Bill a matter of confidence in the Government before the second reading after members of the Riigikogu had submitted 200 motions to amend the Bill by the deadline. President Alar Karis had refused to proclaim the Act on 8 December. He had found that the Act was not in conformity with the Constitution as it had been passed in breach of procedural rules. According to the President, the Constitution does give the Government a possibility to declare legislative drafts it submits a matter of confidence but only under restrictive preconditions which had not been met in this case.
During the renewed deliberation of the Act, representative of the Constitutional Committee Hendrik Johannes Terras and representative of the Finance Committee Marek Reinaas made reports and answered questions by members of the Riigikogu.
During the debate, Andrei Korobeinik from the Estonian Centre Party Group, Martin Helme and Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Helir-Valdor Seeder from Isamaa Parliamentary Group as well as Kalle Grünthal took the floor.
58 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act again without amendments and 31 were against.
The Minister of Health replied to two interpellations
The Minister of Health Riina Sikkut replied to the interpellations concerning alcohol-related deaths (No. 485) and concerning the rise in VAT (No. 280), submitted by members of the Riigikogu. Riina Solman from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The interpellations concerning national defence (No. 102) and concerning the rise in VAT (No. 271 and No. 303) submitted to the Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur by members of the Riigikogu were excluded from the agenda. The interpellation concerning the rise in VAT (No. 238) submitted to the Minister of Health Riina Sikkut was also excluded from the agenda.
Kristo Enn Vaga from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group and Tõnis Lukas from Isamaa Parliamentary Group made speeches at the open microphone session.
In the Statement, the Riigikogu points out that there can be no justification for murdering civilians, taking hostages, or attacking civilian objects, and underlines that according to the Nuremberg Charter, planning, preparation or waging of a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances is a crime against peace.
The Riigikogu expresses its condolences to the State of Israel, its people and the relatives of the victims of the terrorist attack, and acknowledges the efforts made to free the hostages, which have secured the release of some of the hostages. The Parliament of Estonia also affirms that the State of Israel has the right and the duty to defend itself until the Hamas terrorist attacks stop, all hostages are released, and the planners and perpetrators of the 7 October massacre are captured, so that terror against Israel and its people would not happen again.
The Parliament of Estonia expresses its hope that Israel would achieve rapid success in its military and anti-terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip, and notes that it is of utmost importance for the future of Israel and peace in the region to avoid civilian casualties in the ongoing operations and to comply with the general nternational humanitarian law. According to the Statement, the Riigikogu condemns all acts of violence against civilians, regardless of who committed these or how these are justified, and calls on the Government of Israel and all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The Riigikogu also expresses its concern about the anti-Semitic attacks and demonstrations that have taken place in Europe and elsewhere in Estonia’s allied countries, but especially in the Middle East and Russia in recent months, and states that Estonia will not tolerate any justification of terrorism, manifestations of anti-Semitism or incitement of hatred on the basis of religion. “The Riigikogu expresses its hope that Israel’s military self-defence actions against Hamas will achieve the goal founded on a repeated commitment in international treaties: the creation of an environment free of pressure, repressions, and violence in which to conduct peace negotiations between the State of Israel and the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people,” the Statement says.
65 members of the Riigikogu submitted the draft of the Statement of the Riigikogu in Support of the State of Israel and Its People (355 AE) for parliamentary proceedings last Thursday.
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu committee of investigation to investigate the facts relating to the influencing of elections by the Liberal Citizen Foundation” (251 OE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, which proposed establishing a committee to investigate claims in the press about the actions of the Liberal Citizen Foundation in influencing the elections of the Riigikogu.
Anti Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.
47 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Constitutional Committee to reject the Bill and 27 voted against it.
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (80 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Evelin Poolamets, Arvo Aller, and Martin Helme, intending to lower the excise duty rates on diesel fuel to reduce the tax burden of the people.
45 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Finance Committee to reject the Bill and 21 voted against it.
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (84 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas and Anti Poolamets, intending to lower the excise duty rates on unleaded petrol to reduce the tax burden of the people.
47 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Finance Committee to reject the Bill and 21 voted against it.
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Income Tax Act (83 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Kert Kingo and Rene Kokk, intended to increase the limit of the tax exempt compensation of employment related use of a personal automobile considering the increase in fuel prices over the last years.
48 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Finance Committee to reject the Bill and 19 voted against it.
In the draft Statement, the Riigikogu points out that there can be no justification for the murder of civilians, the taking of hostages and the attacking civilian objects, and underlines that according to the Nuremberg Charter, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances is a crime against peace.
According to the draft Statement, the Riigikogu expresses its condolences to the State of Israel, its people and the relatives of the victims of the terrorist attack, and acknowledges the efforts made to free the hostages, as a result of which it has been possible to release part of the hostages. The Parliament also affirms in the draft Statement that the State of Israel has the right and the duty to defend itself until the end of the Hamas terrorist attacks, the release of all hostages and the capture of the planners and perpetrators of the 7 October massacre, so that terror against Israel and its people would not happen again.
In the draft Statement, the Parliament of Estonia expresses hope that Israel will achieve rapid success in its military and anti-terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip, and notes that it is of the utmost importance for the future of Israel and peace in the region to avoid civilian casualties in the ongoing operations and to comply with general international humanitarian law. According to the draft, the Riigikogu condemns all acts of violence against civilians, regardless of who committed it and what justifications they give, and calls on the Government of Israel and all parties of the conflict to do all they can to solve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In the draft Statement, the Riigikogu also expresses its concern about the anti-Semitic attacks and demonstrations that have taken place in Europe and elsewhere in Estonia’s allied countries, but especially in the Middle East and Russia, in recent months, and affirms that Estonia will not tolerate any justification of terrorism, manifestations of anti-Semitism or incitement of hatred on the basis of religion. “The Riigikogu expresses hope that Israel’s military self-defence actions against Hamas will achieve the goal it has repeatedly committed itself to in international treaties: the creation of an environment free of pressure, repressions and violence for peace negotiations between the legitimate representatives of the State of Israel and the Palestinian people,” the draft statement reads.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will discuss the sending of the draft Statement to the plenary assembly for debate and voting this afternoon.
