Today, the National Defence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed the draft National Security Concept of Estonia and submitted their proposals for amending the new concept.
According to Chairman of the National Defence Committee Raimond Kaljulaid, the document sets the direction for Estonia’s security policy in the coming years. “From the point of view of the National Defence Committee, it is important that the National Security Concept of Estonia reflects the times in which we live. Russia’s war against Ukraine is an aggression against the whole existing rules-based world order. Russia emphasises that it is at war with NATO and the West, and it must be taken seriously,” he said. “For us, it is essential to set out in the national security concept that in the long term we will continue to spend at least three per cent of GDP on national defence, and also that the importance of non-military defence and civil protection is recognised.”
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Andres Sutt noted that Russia’s full-scale war of aggression had significantly changed the global security landscape. “The growing confrontation between democratic countries and authoritarian regimes is also reflected in international economic relations. To restore rules-based world trade, the European Union needs to increase its technological capacity and support innovation,” he said.
The members of the National Defence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee also considered it necessary to amend the draft national security concept by raising the level of defence spending to at least three per cent of GDP and setting a minimum target for the financing of non-military defence, including civil protection. Besides that, the members of Committees gave recommendations on formulating security threats, on the role of the Estonian Defence League and supporting Estonian defence industry. The MPs also made proposals about the structure of the concept, its objectives and terminology.
The draft national security concept will be completed at the beginning of new year and then submitted for legislative proceedings in the Riigikogu. The new document will be based on the updated strategic threat assessment and builds on the National Security Concept adopted in 2017. The aim of the document is to describe the security environment as of the end of 2022, to clarify Estonia’s objectives in the changing security environment and to describe the activities necessary for achieving them. The document covers Estonia’s activities in five areas: social cohesion and national resilience, internal security and public order, military defence, international activities, as well as economic security and vital services.
The National Security Concept is prepared by the Government and adopted by the Riigikogu.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu deliberated a draft Resolution that was intended to make a proposal to the Government to the effect that only people who have left Ukraine legally be granted temporary protection. The draft Resolution was not supported. The draft Resolution, one purpose of which is to make a proposal to the Government to develop a free electricity package, was also discussed at the sitting. The proceedings on the draft Resolution will continue at tomorrow’s sitting.
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic” (730 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, was intended to ensure that only people who have left Ukraine legally would be granted temporary protection. Under the draft Resolution, people who have left Ukraine illegally should be sent back. Under the draft Resolution, it would also be necessary to identify and send back people who have been granted temporary protection but who have not had the right to leave Ukraine.
During the debate, Peeter Ernits took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction and Mihhail Lotman on behalf of Faction Isamaa.
17 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the draft Resolution. A majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu was needed for the draft Resolution to be passed. Thus, the draft Resolution was not supported.
The proceedings on a draft Resolution were adjourned
Due to the end of the working hours of the sitting, the first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to develop an energy crisis rescue package” (716 OE), submitted by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, was adjourned.
The draft Resolution is intended to make a proposal to develop a free electricity package for household consumers to the extent of 130 kWh per month until 30 April 2023, to lower the network charges for electrical energy and natural gas to zero euro for companies until 30 April 2023 and to extend the universal service for electricity to medium-sized enterprises and local government agencies.
During the debate, Rene Kokk took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction. The debate will continue at tomorrow’s sitting.
The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Building Code, An Act to Implement the Building Code and the Planning Act and the State Assets Act (746 SE), initiated by the Government, was also deferred to the agenda for tomorrow’s sitting due to the end of the working hours of the sitting.
The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later onthe Riigikogu YouTubechannel. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas is on a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. Today, he delivered a speech at the sitting of the Verkhovna Rada, where he said that although we did not know when the war started by Russia would end, it must end with Ukraine winning and Russia losing.
Ratas said before the Parliament of Ukraine that the brutal war that Russia had started in Ukraine had now lasted for almost 300 days. He underlined that Russia’s aggression had caused immense suffering to the people of Ukraine, tens of thousands had been killed and millions had been forced to leave their homes. He is convinced that Russia alone bears the responsibility for this.
“We don’t know when this war will end, but we do know that it will not end with Russia winning,” Ratas said, and pointed out that history had taught us that the issue of responsibility was extremely important. He added that Estonia supported independent and effective investigations into the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, as well as establishing a Special Tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine. “In addition, Russia has to pay reparation for the damage caused to Ukraine.”
Ratas assured that Estonia stood firmly by the side of Ukraine and that this would remain so until all the occupied territories had been liberated and justice had been served. According to him, Estonia together with other democratic countries has worked to raise the costs of aggression, to impose further sanctions and to isolate Russia on the international arena. “Our political, military and economic support to Ukraine has also increased over the recent months,” he said, and assured that Estonia would continue assisting Ukraine with necessary equipment and training and also call on its NATO Allies to increase defence assistance.
Ratas said that Estonia’s economic and humanitarian assistance was focusing on helping Ukraine to survive the winter and to cope with the damage to energy infrastructure. According to him, Estonia also considers it important to start with the reconstruction of Ukraine, where Estonia has contributed for several months. “Our particular focus is on the region of Zhytomyr, where, as the first step, Estonia is building a kindergarten in the city of Ovruch and rebuilding a bridge in Malyn. We are also sending 44 buses to Zhytomyr and other regions in order to help restore the public transport,” he said.
In his speech at the Verkhovna Rada, Ratas reaffirmed Estonia’s support to Ukraine on the way to the European Union. In his opinion, achieving the candidate country status is a big step forward, but it is still only the beginning of the road leading to the membership in the EU. He emphasised that Estonia was ready to share its experience and help Ukraine to advance towards future EU membership. Ratas also confirmed support to Ukraine’s NATO aspirations.
The President of the Riigikogu also spoke of the excellent relations between the parliaments of Estonia and Ukraine that had intensified even further during the war. “But of course, the bonds have strengthened not only between our politicians, but first and foremost between our people. Estonia is currently a new home for more than 60,000 Ukrainians who had to leave Ukraine because of Russia’s aggression. As the result, the population of Estonia is today 5% larger than it was a year ago,” he said, and added that the people of Estonia had warmly welcomed the Ukrainians and supported them. “Perhaps the best example of this strong solidarity is the fact that over 80% of all the humanitarian assistance provided by Estonia has been donated by private persons, private companies and NGOs.”
Ratas recalled that on 24 February 2023, Estonia would celebrate the 105th Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and this would also be the day when a year passed from the moment Russia had started its brutal aggression against Ukraine. “I wish that by this date, the last Russian soldier has left the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine. Even if my wish may be too optimistic, one thing is absolutely clear – Russia will lose this war and Ukraine will win this war! So that Ukrainian people could freely decide on their future, so that Estonia and Ukraine could belong together to the Euro-Atlantic family of the democratic countries,” Ratas said in his speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Today morning Ratas met with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniyenko in Kyiv.
Ratas is visiting Ukraine for the third time this year. His first visit to Ukraine this year was at the beginning of February. On 24 March, exactly one month after Russia had started the full-scale war, Ratas visited Ukraine together with his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts
Today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas met with Speaker of the Sejm of Poland Elżbieta Witek in Warsaw, Poland. They discussed the ways of supporting Ukraine during the harsh winter months, including helping the country to restore its energy infrastructure.
Ratas said at the meeting that Estonia was ready to provide military, political and financial support to Ukraine for as long as Ukraine needed it. “The coming months will be complicated for Ukraine. As Russia continues to destroy infrastructure in Ukraine, including attacking energy infrastructure, Ukraine needs our support even more to survive the winter and win the war,” he said, and emphasised the importance of the contribution of Western countries to Ukraine’s reconstruction and integration with the European Union.
At the meeting with his Polish counterpart, Ratas also underlined the need to continue with imposing new sanctions on Russia. “Russia is the most serious security threat to Europe, therefore the European Union has to find ways for imposing additional sanctions in order to collectively raise the cost of war and weaken Russia’s ability to continue aggression in Ukraine. We wish to continue cooperation with Poland in putting up common proposals for sanctions,” he added.
The excellent relations between the two countries were reaffirmed at the meeting. It was considered necessary to further intensify the cooperation between the Parliaments of the Baltic States and Poland. Ratas said that Poland was an important ally for Estonia and that we really appreciated Poland’s contribution to the Baltic Air Policing Mission and to the general security of the region.
Ratas and Witek also discussed issues relating to energy security.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed 19 legal acts. Among them, parliament passed the state budget for 2023, supported the increasing of family allowances and the benefits for repressed persons and persons sent to eliminate the effects of a nuclear disaster, established the regulation for funding the general care service provided outside the home of a person on a 24-hour basis and made the Estonian Literature Day a day of national importance.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Apartment Ownership and Apartment Associations Act and Other Acts (641 SE), initiated by the Government. The amendments made will resolve problems that have arisen in practice in issues concerning apartment ownerships and apartment associations.
While currently for example a developer can submit an application for the establishment of apartment ownerships in the Digital Land Register, in the future, such transactions will have to be notarised. The Act allows apartment associations with up to ten apartments to maintain their accounts on a cash basis and the obligation to submit annual reports will be eliminated. At the same time, this amendment will not apply to apartment associations that have an administrator.
In addition, the amendments give local governments an opportunity to establish a conciliation body acting under the Conciliation Act for disputes concerning apartment ownerships and apartment associations. This will enable disputes to be settled more affordably and quickly than by court actions.
During the debate, Marek Jürgenson from the Centre Party Faction took the floor.
78 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and one was against it.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Commercial Code and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (cross-border movement of companies) (713 SE), initiated by the Government. It transposes into Estonian law the EU directive regulating cross-border conversions, mergers, and divisions. The directive adopted in 2019 opens up opportunities for companies in the EU single internal market and fosters economic growth and competition.
While cross-border merger of private limited liability companies and public limited liability companies is possible now as well, the Act introduces cross-border division and cross-border conversion as new possibilities. At the same time, the control over the conditions for cross-border movement will be tightened. For example, it will not be possible if restructuring, bankruptcy or criminal proceedings have been commenced in respect of the company. The provisions on the protection of the interests of members, creditors and employees are also amended significantly. Among other things, in the future, the involvement and participation of employees in the cross-border movement of companies will be better ensured.
At the same time, the verification obligation of the registrar in the issuing of cross-border movement certificates is amended. The registrar will have to follow more widely the motives for cross-border movement. There will also be an obligation to cooperate with other authorities in the issuing of certificates in order to minimise the use of cross-border movement for malicious or criminal purposes.
62 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 14 voted against.
The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Public Holidays and Days of National Importance Act and the Estonian Flag Act (635 SE), initiated by the Government. It makes the Estonian Literature Day a day of national importance and a flag flying day. It will be celebrated on the anniversary of the birth of Estonian author Anton Hansen Tammsaare on 30 January. The aim of the new day of national importance will be to pay attention to the role of Estonian literature and writers in the Estonian culture and society and to encourage people to read more literature in Estonian.
As another amendment, the days on which the Song Celebration, the Dance Celebration and the Youth Song and Dance Celebration take place are declared flag flying days as well in order to show the national extent and meaning of the Song and Dance Celebration movement, to pay homage to all those who have been upholding the tradition of the Song and Dance Celebration over 150 years and to acknowledge those who are carrying on the tradition. On flag flying days, state and local government agencies and legal persons in public law hoist the Estonian flag.
During the debate, Jaak Juske from the Social Democratic Party Faction and Üllar Saaremäe from Faction Isamaa took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act (659 SE), initiated by the Government. It creates a legal basis for the adoption of an operational and location-based system for alerting the population to threats. Location-based threat alerting enables to send people instructions on how to behave in crisis situations, for example, in the event of a chemical accident, armed attack, explosion threat, wildfire or another threat.
In the case of threats that are identifiable early on, the availability of early warning gives the possibility to prevent serious consequences, for example to charge telephone batteries, to refuel, to stock up drinking water and food, to avoid going to dangerous places, to shelter or to evacuate.
While at present communications undertakings send threat alerts to all their clients and SMS roaming service users regardless of where the people are staying, in the future there will be the possibility to send threat alerts only to the people staying in particular threat areas. It will also be allowed to use regional threat alerting in crisis management exercises.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Maritime Safety Act (697 SE), initiated by the Government. It reduces rates of fairway dues in place in 2023 in order to support the international carriage of goods and passengers by sea.
While ships entering Estonian ports and the roadstead of Estonian ports were exempted from the payment of fairway dues from the start of the COVID-pandemic until the end of March 2021, fairway dues have been reduced by 50 per cent from last April until the end of this year. Initially the Bill provided that, in 2023, ships would have to pay fairway dues by 25 per cent less than provided for in law. However, under an amendment made during the proceedings, the rate of reduction will increase to 37.5 per cent to support the development of the maritime sector.
The lowering of fairway dues will apply to all ships entering Estonian ports and the roadstead of Estonian ports regardless of the type of ship and the flag the ship is flying. The purpose of the amendment is to continue supporting international maritime transport and to motivate consignors to direct their trade flows through Estonian ports.
63 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 9 were against.
The Riigikogu passed with 79 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Persons Repressed by Occupying Powers Act and the Social Welfare Act (increasing the benefits for repressed persons and persons sent to eliminate the effects of a nuclear disaster) (698 SE), initiated by the Government. It increases by 62 euro the allowance paid to repressed persons and persons treated as repressed persons as well as the benefit paid to persons who were forcibly sent from Estonia to eliminate the effects of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl.
While at present the allowance paid once a year is 230 euro, from next year it will rise to 292 euro. The benefit has not increased since 2018, while in the meantime a remarkable rise in the cost of living has taken place. In the opinion of the Ministry of Social Affairs, people who receive the benefit will be estimated to number 7,800 next year.
During the debate, Riho Breivel from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction and Helmen Kütt from the Social Democratic Party Faction took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed with 77 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Medical Devices Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (701 SE), initiated by the Government. It repeals in the Medical Devices Act the provisions falling within the scope of regulation of EU Regulations, as a new framework for the regulation concerning medical devices has been created with EU law and the directives that have been regulating the field until now have been repealed.
The EU Regulations have set harmonised and higher standards of quality and safety for medical devices in order to meet common safety concerns as regards such devices. The amendments specify the rights and tasks of economic operators, users of medical devices and the Health Board in the implementation of the Regulations.
Among other things, distributors will have an obligation to give notice if a system of medical devices, a procedure pack or a higher-risk in vitro diagnostic medical device is distributed in Estonia for the first time. This will bring about additional administrative burden for economic operators but will help achieve a better market overview of medical devices on the market in Estonia and achieve efficiency of market surveillance in order that the Health Board could identify non-compliant, including falsified and dangerous medical devices on the Estonian market and remove them from the market if necessary.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act and the Family Law Act (703 SE), initiated by the Government. Its aim is to improve the livelihood of families with children, to promote the birth rate and to ensure that the allowance for families with many children is linked to the rise in salaries and in the cost of living. Particular attention will be on single-parent families and families with many children, that is, the types of families with a higher-than-average poverty risk or where the raising of children involves higher costs for the family.
According to the Act, from 1 January, the allowance for the first and second child will increase from 60 euro and the single parent’s child allowance from 19.18 euro to 80 euro per month. The allowance for families with many children will increase from 300 to 650 euro per month in the case of three to six children and from 400 to 850 euro per month in the case of seven or more children. From 1 May 2024 the allowance for families with many children will be indexed with the pension index.
At the same time, the requirement under which the child must be enrolled in a school is abandoned as a condition for the payment of child allowance for children aged 16–19. This will make both the allowance for families with many children and the child allowance available to families where the child does not continue their studies for some reason, for example, due to special needs. In order to promote studying, the rule will remain in place that, if a 19-year-old young person is studying during the current academic year, the payment of the allowance will be continued until the person graduates from the school or until the end of the academic year.
The new regulation also provides that, in the case of the death of a child under three years of age, the state allows a for parental benefit to the extent of one month for both the mother and the father.
In addition, the Act provides an amendment in the regulation for calculating maintenance provided for in the Family Law Act. According to it, the allowance for families with many children will be taken into account to the extent of 50 per cent when calculating the minimum maintenance. The purpose of the amendment is to calculate the payment of the allowance for families with many children more clearly and fairly when calculating maintenance.
Child benefits and allowances for families with many children will increase from 1 January. Families where the payment of family allowances has already been terminated because the children under 19 years of age are not studying will again be entitled to family allowances. The Social Insurance Board will make the relevant payments retroactively by the end of March at the latest. Families will not have to submit applications or documents for that.
During the debate, Jaanus Karilaid from the Centre Party Faction, Priit Sibul from Faction Isamaa, Jaak Valge from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, Õnne Pillak from the Reform Party Faction and Indrek Saar from the Social Democratic Party Faction took the floor.
76 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act and one voted against it.
The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Social Welfare Act and the Income Tax Act (704 SE), initiated by the Government. It establishes the regulation for funding the general care service provided outside the home of a person on a 24-hour basis from 1 July next year.
While up to now the recipient of the service and the people who maintain them have had to bear the main burden of the service, in the future, the public sector will also begin to participate in the covering of the costs of the service. The local government will cover the expenses of a qualified care worker from the cost of the service place of the person entitled to receive the service, and the recipient of the service will pay for the accommodation and catering costs and other costs related to the provision of the service.
With a view to mitigating the increasing obligation for local governments, the rate of the income tax received by local governments is amended and the income from state pension will also begin to be taken into account in the distribution of income tax from 1 January 2024. During the transition period, that is, next year, the funds earmarked for the measure will be distributed between local governments through the support fund. The additional expenditure for the state budget is projected to be 40 million euro in 2023 and 57 million in 2024. This will enable local governments to also develop the services supporting living at home and to enhance the provision thereof.
Under an amendment made during the proceedings, NGO Slava Ukraini is included in the list of associations benefiting from income tax incentives to whom legal persons can make donations and gifts free of income tax for maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine as well as for organising the provision of humanitarian aid purposefully.
During the debate, Heljo Pikhof from the Social Democratic Party Faction, Margit Sutrop from the Reform Party Faction and Aivar Kokk from Faction Isamaa took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed the State Budget for 2023 Act (708 SE), initiated by the Government. The total volume of the state budget revenue will be 15.6 billion euro and the total volume of expenditure will be 16.8 billion. The tax burden for 2023 will amount to 33.3 per cent of GDP and the structural budget deficit will remain at 2.6 per cent.
In 2023, defence expenditure in Estonia will for the first time exceed the one-billion-euro limit, which is 2.9 per cent of GDP.
243 million euro has been earmarked for pay rises in the next year’s budget, and the wage bills of teachers, culture workers and internal safety workers will grow by 15 per cent. The minimum remuneration rate for school teachers will rise by 23.9 per cent and the minimum salary of police officers by 17 per cent.
The family allowances budget will increase by 177.1 million euro in 2023. The allowances for large families as well as the child benefits for the first and second child in a family and the single parent’s allowance will increase.
The average old-age pension will be exempt from income tax from next year. Together with the extraordinary pension rise and indexation, the average old-age pension will increase to 704 euro per month. The general tax-exempt income will rise to 654 euro per month from the beginning of next year.
Additional 41.5 million euro will be allocated to higher education funding in 2023 and the funding will increase by an additional 15 per cent in each subsequent year. 41 million will be contributed towards the transition to Estonian-medium education every year from next year onwards.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy investments and housing will be supported with 166 million euro.
During the debate, Reili Rand from the Social Democratic Party Faction, Helir-Valdor Seeder from Faction Isamaa, Maris Lauri from the Reform Party Faction, Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction and Jaak Aab from the Centre Party Faction took the floor.
79 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and two were against it.
The Riigikogu passed nine Resolutions
The Riigikogu passed with 45 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in International Military Operations Led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or its Member State, or the European Union, and other International Military Operations Led by the United Nations, upon the First Contribution thereto” (687 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable the use of up to 100 servicemen in international military operations led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or its member state, the European Union, or the United Nations, except in collective self-defence operations, upon the first contribution thereto. Estonia’s specific contribution will depend on the needs of the specific operation, and the Government will decide it within the limits of a Resolution of the Riigikogu.
The Resolution will ensure Estonia’s capability of deploying units of the Defence Forces to crisis and conflict regions quickly and flexibly where necessary. Similarly to other countries, Estonia is ready to contribute to ensuring international stability and so to also protect Estonia’s security interests.
The Riigikogu passed with 43 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the European Union Military Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI” (688 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to six servicemen in the operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI in 2023.
The primary aim of the operation is to support the implementation of the UN weapons embargo on Libya. This includes conducting inspections on the high seas off the coast of Libya on vessels which are suspected of carrying arms or related materiel to or from Libya, on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council Resolution. In addition to this, the mission supports the implementation of UN measures to prevent the illicit export of petroleum from Libya, the capacity building and training of the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy, and the disruption of the business model of human smuggling and trafficking networks.
This year, Estonia’s contribution to the operation was two staff officers in the Headquarters of EUNAVFOR MED IRINI in Rome. In view of the significance of the operation in responding to security challenges near the southern borders of the European Union, the limit of servicemen provided in the Resolution will enable additional contribution to the operation where necessary.
The Riigikogu passed with 44 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the European Union Training Mission in Mozambique” (689 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to five servicemen to the EU Training Mission EUTM Mozambique in 2023.
Estonia was one of the first countries to notify Portugal who was the framework nation of its intention to participate in the mission and Estonia has been contributing to the mission with a legal adviser since the end of last year. The task of the Estonian serviceman is to advise EUTM Mozambique mission commander on legal matters and to train the members of the local armed forces in human rights matters.
By participating in the mission, Estonia is contributing in solidarity with the other Member States to the EU military operation. It is also important to Estonia to develop cooperation with the strategic allies on the EU’s southern flank.
The Riigikogu passed with 49 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the International Military Operation Inherent Resolve” (690 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to participate with up to five servicemen in the US-led international military operation Inherent Resolve in 2023.
The aim of the operation is to fight against ISIL primarily in Iraq and Syria, and one important task also involves training the Iraqi security forces. In supporting the training of the Iraqi security forces, close cooperation is in place with NATO and the Iraqi government. ISIL has been significantly weakened through the actions of the coalition and no longer controls areas in Iraq and Syria, but it remains capable of organising attacks both within the region and across the globe.
By participating in international military operations, Estonia confirms its commitment to contribute to the burden-sharing for the benefit of achieving peace and stability in the world. The participation in the operation of the US-led coalition of the willing is also supporting the excellent allied relations as well as defence and security cooperation between Estonia and the United States. At the same time, the participation in the operation is also providing a major operational output for the Defence Forces.
In 2023, it is planned to continue contribution to operation Inherent Resolve with a staff non-commissioned officer, but the threshold of the mandate will enable Estonia to additionally contribute to the operation flexibly should the need arise.
The Riigikogu passed with 51 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Composition of the United Kingdom’s Joint Expeditionary Force” (691 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to 24 servicemen to the composition of the United Kingdom’s Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in 2023.
The JEF is a coalition of the willing, initiated, owned and led by the United Kingdom, with membership of other countries, which is generally ready to contribute quickly and flexibly to operations across the full spectrum of warfare and crisis management. Nations assign to the JEF high-readiness military capabilities, which form a joint force comprising various armed services under single command.
The JEF is capable of operating on its own and as part of other larger military units. The use of the JEF is flexible – either all or just interested Member States can initiate potential operations and participate in them. Based on a joint decision of countries, the JEF focuses on ensuring security in the Baltic Sea region and the North Atlantic Ocean, thereby enhancing the defence and deterrence posture in the Baltic states.
The Riigikogu passed with 51 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Mission in Iraq” (692 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to five servicemen in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission in Iraq in 2023.
NATO Mission Iraq is a non-combat advisory and capacity-building mission that aims to address threats to the Alliance from the south more broadly and that assists Iraq in building more sustainable, transparent, inclusive and effective security institutions and armed forces, so that Iraqis themselves are able to stabilise their country, fight terrorism and prevent the return of Daesh. To achieve this, NATO advises Iraqi security structures.
The participation in the mission in Iraq provides Estonia an opportunity to actively contribute to grounding the threats to the Alliance from the south, to contribute to NATO’s collective security, and to support allies and partner countries in the fight against terrorism.
The Riigikogu passed with 51 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Composition of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Readiness Units” (693 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to 285 servicemen to the composition of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s readiness units in 2023.
NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high-readiness unit capable of conducting military operations anywhere in the world. The NRF plays a key role in launching NATO’s short-notice collective defence operations. Ensurance of full manning of the NRF is directly in Estonia’s interests because this ensures NATO’s commitment to deterrence and collective defence. In addition, Estonia is meeting its allied commitments by having been contributing to the NATO Readiness Initiative since the beginning of 2021.
The Riigikogu passed with 50 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Lebanon” (694 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to three servicemen in the United Nations mission UNIFIL in 2023.
The UN peacekeeping mission plays an important stabilising role in Lebanon and the whole region. The mission is mandated to monitor the situation in the region by contributing to the cessation of hostilities and to the ensurance of international peace and security, and to support the Lebanese government in cementing its governance in the southern part of the country. The UNIFIL’ area of operation is between the Litani River and the Blue Line.
As a country contributing towards collective security, Estonia is closely monitoring the developments in the Middle East, and the security policy impact of the events there on the stability in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Participation in UN operations has been important to Estonia and has been supporting our role as an elected member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021. The continuing participation of Estonian servicemen in UN operations helps strengthen Estonia’s contribution to UN activities in securing peace.
The Riigikogu passed with 51 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Post-Conflict Peacekeeping Operation in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Syria” (695 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to six servicemen in the United Nations in peacekeeping operation in the Middle East in 2023.
UNTSO is the first UN peacekeeping mission that is purely an observation mission. The UNTSO’s area of operation is the Middle East, more specifically Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and the and mission’s headquarters are in Jerusalem. UNTSO’s military observers have been operating in the region over decades, acting as the means by which isolated incidents could be prevented from escalating into major conflicts in the Middle East.
The continuing participation of Estonian servicemen in UN operations helps strengthen Estonia’s contribution to UN activities in securing peace.
Six Bills passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Security Authorities Act and the Estonian Defence Forces Organisation Act (721 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will give the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service and the Estonian Internal Security Service rights to protect their territory and staff in order to enable to adequately respond to threats until the arrival of the police.
Security authorities will be given the right to use law enforcement measures such as questioning, identification of identity and detention of person in the protection of their territory and staff. For this, security authorities will be given the right to use physical force, special equipment as well as a weapon. Direct coercion may be used only with regard to people who are on the territory of the security authority or in the immediate vicinity thereof and whose activity poses a threat to the staff. A manner of responding that would harm the person posing the threat as little as possible will have to be chosen.
Another major amendment will extend the right of the Defence Forces to organise armed resistance. It is part of military national defence where the efficiency of the organisation of armed resistance depends on peace-time preparations. The Bill also proposes other amendments, for example, provisions concerning the regulation of data protection will be updated.
The Victim Support Bill (702 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. Its aim is to improve the availability and quality of the victim support services provided to victims of violence, crime, and cases of crisis and to make the system for the application for compensations to victims of crime more user-friendly. The Bill will extensively transform the area of victim support, and the Victim Support Act passed in 2003 will be repealed.
The Bill will provide for services that have not been legally regulated so far, such as psychosocial assistance in cases of crisis, crisis assistance in the case of sexual violence, the restorative justice services and supporting the work of perpetrators to stop violent behaviour. It will also specify the provisions concerning the service for victims of human trafficking and the women’s support centre service. Emphasis will be put on the requirements for education and in-service training of victim support providers with the aim of ensuring that specialists who have received the relevant training work with victims who are in a vulnerable situation.
The Bill will establish the bases for data exchange in the case of victims who need special treatment and protection, high-risk domestic violence victims as well as other victims, including minors. The aim is to relieve victims in the most difficult situations of the obligation to actively engage in seeking assistance themselves. The Bill is also intended to ensure mental health help supporting recovery from trauma to victims of sexual violence and domestic violence and their children where no proceedings in respect of the incident have been commenced but the need for help remains in place.
The Bill is intended to make the compensation paid to victims of crimes of violence more available, and the application for the compensation more user-friendly. Compared with the current Act, in the future, state benefits, such as the funeral benefit paid by local governments, survivor’s pension and work ability allowance, will not be deducted from the compensation, and working-age victims will not need to complete assessments of their work ability in the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund. In certain cases, there will be no need to submit expense receipts.
The Bill on Amendments to the Patents Act and Other Acts (658 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will specify the issues of the right of representation at the Patent Office and at the Industrial Property Board of Appeal and will simplify the proving of the right of representation of patent attorneys.
According to the Bill, patent attorneys will no longer be required to present an authorisation document when communicating with the Estonian Patent Office in the area of inventions. The Bill will specify the scope of the right of representation of applicants for a patent and the joint representative appointed from among the rights holders. In connection with the amendments in representation and the transition to electronic procedures, the procedure for sending the notices of the Estonian Patent Office will also be specified. The procedure for paying the state fee will also change.
The Bill on Amendments to § 17 of the Acquisition of Immovables in Public Interest Act (729 SE), initiated by the Economic Affairs Committee, passed the second reading. It will give owners whose immovable is to be transferred in the public interest the possibility to also receive compensation, within the limits prescribed by the law, for the preparation of a comparative valuation report commissioned by them, in addition to the procedural costs related to the transfer.
In October, the Riigikogu decided to support the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice to bring the Acquisition of Immovables in Public Interest Act into conformity with the Constitution as the Act did not prescribe compensation of additional valuation costs to the owner where the owner wished to negotiate with the state or a local government the price of land, a forest or a building to be acquired in the public interest.
The Bill on Amendments to the Funded Pensions Act and the Securities Register Maintenance Act (711 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will enable members of pension schemes to make contributions to the second pillar pension scheme in the rate of four or six per cent, instead of the current two per cent, in order to increase their pension savings. The current two-per cent contribution rate will remain in place by default.
It will be possible to change the payment rate twice a year. In such a case, the new rate will be implemented from 1 January and an application will have to be submitted to the registrar of the pension register or the account administrator by 30 November at the latest. According to the Bill, the amendments will enter into force from 2024 and it will be possible to begin to make greater contributions from 1 January 2025 at the earliest.
The Bill on Amendments to the Tax Information Exchange Act and the Taxation Act (transposition of administrative cooperation directive) (732 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will specify the reporting rules related to the taxation of platform operators in order to enable state supervision in respect of the sellers and service providers operating on platforms, including monitoring of their tax compliance.
According to the Bill, from the new year, platform operators like AirBnB, Amazon, Bolt, Uber, Etsy and Booking.com will have to start submitting to the Tax and Customs Board information on the sellers and service providers who are individuals and legal persons operating on their platforms and the income they earn. Currently, data exchange with platforms is taking place on a voluntary basis.
According to the Bill, platform operators will have to provide information on the local taxable persons and taxable persons of EU Member States operating on their platforms as well as on the taxable persons of the countries with whom Estonia has entered into agreements for automatic exchange of information in tax matters. Tax authorities will use automatic exchange of information to exchange the information obtained on non-residents.
Where a seller refuses to share to a platform operator the data necessary to meet its reporting requirements, the platform operator will have the right, in the event of reminders being ignored, to close the account of the seller and to prevent them from registering on the platform in the future as well as the right to withhold the transfer of the consideration to the seller. The Tax and Customs Board will be able to have a warning published on the website of the platform of the non-compliant platform operator for failure to submit data. As a last resort, it will be possible to block the use of the platform but only in the case that all other more proportional measures and remedies have been exhausted.
Seven drafts passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the General Part of the Environmental Code Act and Other Acts (734 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will organise the system of environmental protection permits regulating the use of the environment in order to ensure that the Environmental Board can economise its resources, to support the implementation of the long-term strategies related to the green transition and to ensure a service with low administrative burden and bureaucracy.
The Bill will amend the obligation to hold an environmental permit in the case of certain activities and mitigate the disproportionately burdensome requirements, taking into account the potential environmental impact of the activities. The processing of permits will become more efficient and faster in order that applicants could receive feedback within a reasonable period of time which helps reduce administrative burden.
The Bill will also prescribe the possibility of carrying out proceedings on an environmental permit faster in order to prevent the risk of disruption of a vital service. It provides that, in the case of vital services, in the future, the provisions concerning open proceedings will not be applied to the processing of environmental permits. The explanatory memorandum says that, due to instabilities in the energy market, the need to amend the processing of environmental permits in order to prevent the risk of disruption of vital services has already become apparent. Many power and heat producers will need to adopt alternative fuels available on the market to prevent risks.
The Bill on Amendments to the Earth’s Crust Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (745 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will help better implement the Earth’s Crust Act and regulate the sector more clearly. The Bill provides that the Mineral Resources Commission will also begin to advise the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and authorities within the area of administration thereof, in addition to the Ministry of the Environment and authorities within the area of administration thereof.
The Bill will extend the opportunity to apply for other mineral reserves that have been designated as potentially economic to be designated as economic, in addition to oil shale. The re-assessment of mineral reserves as economic will bring about increasing supply security in terms of mineral resources because only reserves that have been registered as economic can be extracted. The re-assessment will also contribute to sustainable use of mineral resources, for example in cases where a suitable solution is found for extracting a reserve that has earlier been registered as potentially economic for mining engineering reasons and the mineral resource can be used after it will have been re-assessed as economic.
The Bill will make application for retroactively extractable quantities of oil shale more flexible. Namely, it will be possible to apply for retroactively extractable quantity of oil shale until 1 July where residual extractable quantity remains as at 1 September in the previous year. It will also be prescribed that the state will have a priority right to receive exploration permits for phosphate rock and metal raw material.
Heiki Hepner from Faction Isamaa took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Health Insurance Act (725 SE), initiated by the Centre Party Faction, passed the first reading. It is intended to make the current temporary regulation of the compensation of days of sick leave permanent from 1 January.
The Bill will retain the procedure for the payment of sickness benefits under which the first day of sick leave is the employee’s own liability, and the employer pays benefit from the second to the fifth day and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund from the sixth day.
Siim Pohlak from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Medicinal Products Act (683 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, passed the first reading. It will prohibit medicinal products in respect of which no genotoxicity or carcinogenicity studies have been conducted, in order to protect people against potential genotoxic and carcinogenic effects.
Kert Kingo from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Weapons Act and the State Fees Act (digital solutions in the authorisation procedure, and the development of the Register of Service and Civilian Weapons) (737 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will make amendments that will be necessary in order to adopt all-digital authorisation procedure and to implement a new Register of Service and Civilian Weapons.
Under the Bill, requests for weapons permits and European Union firearms passes and the related documents will be submitted to the Police and Border Guard Board electronically through the self-service environment of the register. The weapons register will be interfaced with other databases necessary in authorisation proceedings, and queries will be automated.
A dealer environment will be established in the register where dealers will see weapons permits and be able to sell weapons, essential components, and ammunition. When the amendments come into force, permits will be issued electronically and only permits necessary for international transfer of weapons will be issued on paper. The supervision files on holders of weapons permits will be maintained electronically.
On the basis of EU law, a more specific procedure for the exchange of information on weapons will be provided for, and the Police and Border Guard Board will be designated as the authority to exchange information with other countries. EU Member States exchange information on the authorisations granted for the transfer of firearms to another Member State and information with regard to refusals to grant authorisations. The Internal Market Information System is used for information exchange.
Anti Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the plenary did not support the motion. 12 members of the Riigikogu supported a rejection and 39 were against.
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “The Granting of a State Guarantee” (750 OE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. The Riigikogu will grant a state guarantee to the European Commission in an amount of 7,402,387 euro in accordance with the guarantee agreement to be concluded after the Resolution will have been adopted. The implementation of the Resolution will involve no direct immediate obligations for Estonia.
On 20 September, the Council of the European Union approved the decision to provide an amount of EUR 5 billion of macro-financial assistance in loans to Ukraine. The opportunities of the common provisioning fund of the EU budget and guarantees by Member States will be used to manage loan risks. The guarantees by Member States will also cover the loss risk of the one-billion loan of the financial assistance package to Ukraine agreed on earlier, that is, on 12 July this year.
Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction moved to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading, but the motion was not supported. 13 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection but 36 were against it.
The Payment and Settlement Systems Bill (743 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the first reading. It is a new consolidated Act which prescribes the requirements for larger payment systems. The Bill will provide the definitions important to the payment market. It will also prescribe the rules for the settlement system and the rights and obligations of the system operator and participants in the system.
The Bill prescribes how payment orders will be executed in systemically important payment systems and securities settlement systems, including in the cases where a party becomes insolvent or goes bankrupt. The Bill will also provide for rules for cases where Estonian banks operate in the settlement systems of third countries.
The Head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Mati Raidma is taking part in the NATO PA Transatlantic Forum in Washington DC. His message is that the countries around the Baltic Sea are working towards a single goal and should not be split into NATO’s eastern and northern flanks.
Raidma took part in the round table of the heads of Nordic, Baltic, Polish, and Canadian delegations during the Forum, affirming Estonia’s full support to the NATO accession process of Sweden and Finland. “We firmly believe that security and our ability to defend together our common values and democracy in the modern unpredictable world will grow stronger than they have ever been,” he said, adding that the Arctic dimension would also significantly increase in prominence in the NATO security policy.
Speaking of the challenges of the common operational area, Raidma hastened to warn that dividing NATO into eastern and northern flank would not support the unity of our region. “The NATO allies who act as guarantors of security on the Baltic Sea must not be divided into different flanks. We have a common goal and this can only be achieved if we are not part of different regional divisions,” he stated.
The NATO PA Transatlantic Forum takes place in Washington DC from Monday to Wednesday to discuss key challenges of international politics and enhancing transatlantic cooperation, including a common response to Russia’s war of choice in Ukraine, continued support to Ukraine, but also the impact of the war, and strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture. On Monday, the heads of the Nordic and Baltic, Polish, and Canadian delegations met for a round table to discuss NATO developments in the Baltic and Arctic regions.
Raidma is accompanied at the NATO PA Forum by his deputy Marko Šorin, and members of the delegation Jaak Juske and Mihhail Lotman.
The Riigikogu deliberated five drafts at its sitting today.
Two Bills passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act and Other Acts (transition to Estonian as the language of instruction) (722 SE), initiated by the Government, will create the bases and conditions for the transition to Estonian as the language of instruction.
According to the Bill, nurseries and the 1st and 4th grades will be the first to transfer to Estonian as the language of instruction in the academic year 2024/2025. In upper secondary school and in studies carried out under vocational secondary education curricula, in the academic years from 2024/2025 to 2029/2030, the proportion of another language may be up to 40 per cent of the volume of studies laid down in the curriculum of the school. Schools will be obligated to ensure transition to Estonian as the language of instruction in the 10th grade by no later than the academic year 2030/2031, in the 11th grade by no later than the academic year 2031/2032 and in the 12th grade by no later than the academic year 2032/2033. In vocational educational institutions, the amendment will concern the students studying under a curriculum of vocational secondary education.
According to the Bill, from the academic year 2024/2025, in order to carry out teaching and education activities in languages other than Estonian in grades where Estonian is compulsory, permission will have to be obtained from the Government who may grant a derogation to a child care institution or group for one year on the application of the rural municipality or city council. The Bill provides for possibilities to use other languages in addition to Estonian and other languages instead of Estonian in the case of certain target groups if an extra-school counselling team recommends this, for example, in respect of students with moderate learning difficulties or with severe or profound learning difficulties, or with special needs.
The Bill will provide, similarly to the current procedure, that a school organises language and cultural teaching for students acquiring basic education whose native language is other than the language of instruction or who communicate at home in a language other than the language of instruction, which is the native language of at least one parent, provided that no fewer than ten students with the same native language or with the same language of household communication request it.
According to the Bill, the qualification requirements for education workers will be amended by adding a requirement of Estonian language proficiency under which teachers will have to be proficient in Estonian at the C1 level. Before the second reading, the Cultural Affairs Committee had incorporated into the Bill an amendment under which the obligation of heads of schools and head teachers to meet the language proficiency requirement would be brought forward. Heads of educational institutions will have to be proficient in Estonian at the C1 level from 1 August 2023 instead of the deadline of 1 September 2024 initially proposed in the Bill. The requirement of proficiency in Estonian will be applied to teachers and support specialists as a qualification requirement from 1 August 2024.
The committee also supported the proposal to enforce the beginner’s allowance for support specialists in nursery schools from 1 September 2023 instead of 1 September 2024, in order to ensure the equal support of schools and nursery schools.
During the debate, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski (Centre Party), Margit Sutrop (Reform Party), Mihhail Stalnuhhin,Toomas Jürgenstein (Social Democratic Party), Helle-Moonika Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Priit Sibul (Isamaa), Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa), Signe Kivi (Reform Party), Siim Kiisler, Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Andres Metsoja (Isamaa), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Dmitri Dmitrijev (Centre Party), Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart (Centre Party), Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), Raimond Kaljulaid, Tõnis Mölder (Centre Party) and Jaak Aab (Centre Party) took the floor.
The Estonian Centre Party Faction moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. The result of voting: 18 votes in favour and 49 against. The motion was not supported. The second reading of the Bill was concluded.
The Bill on Amendments to the Maritime Safety Act (697 SE), initiated by the Government, will reduce the rates of fairway dues in place in 2023 in order to support the international carriage of goods and passengers by sea.
While from the start of the COVID-pandemic until the end of March 2021 ships entering Estonian ports and the roadstead of Estonian ports were exempted from the payment of fairway dues, from last April until the end of this year fairway dues have been reduced by 50 per cent. Initially the Bill provided that, in 2023, ships would have to pay fairway dues by 25 per cent less than provided for in law. During the proceedings, however, the Finance Committee incorporated an amendment into the Bill under which the rate of reduction will increase to 37.5 per cent to support the development of the maritime sector.
The lowering of fairway dues will apply to all ships entering Estonian ports and the roadstead of Estonian ports regardless of the type of ship and the flag the ship is flying. The purpose of the amendment is to continue supporting international maritime transport through Estonian ports and to motivate consignors to direct their trade flows through Estonian ports where possible
Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa) took the floor during the debate.
The Riigikogu passed two Resolutions
According to the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Amendment of the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Estonian Delegation to the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania”” (748 OE), submitted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, Urve Tiidus is appointed the Head of the Estonian delegation to the Baltic Assembly, and the current Head of the delegation Aadu Must becomes Deputy Head. The current deputy head Sven Sester is excluded from the delegation and Vilja Toomast is appointed a member of the delegation to replace him.
57 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and one abstained.
The consolidated report approved by the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Approval of the Consolidated Report of 2021 of the State” (686 OE), submitted by the Government, gives an overview of the achievement of the goals set in the state budget, and of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the state.
The consolidated report of 2021 of the state consists of the management report, the consolidated and the unconsolidated annual accounts of the state, and information on local governments, the public sector and the government sector. The consolidated report also includes the audit report of the National Audit Office.
78 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution.
A draft Resolution was rejected
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to develop measures to increase support to pensioners living alone” (718 OE), submitted by the Centre Party Faction, was intended to make a proposal to the Government to develop measures to increase support to pensioners living alone. This would include allowing another close relative of a pensioner living alone to be registered at the same address with them and eliminating the restriction according to which the monthly pension of the pensioner must be lower than 1.2 times the average old-age pension in Estonia for them to be eligible for the allowance.
During the debate, Kert Kingo (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Tõnis Mölder (Centre Party) took the floor.
33 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and one was against. The Resolution was not passed, because the support of at least 51 members of the Riigikogu was needed to pass it. The draft Resolution was dropped from the legislative proceedings.
During the open microphone, Tarmo Kruusimäe and Peeter Ernits took the floor.
The National Defence Committee is on a two-day visit to London, UK, to discuss the increasingly close cooperation of the two countries in the field of defence.
The Chairman of the National Defence Committee Raimond Kaljulaid described Estonia’s defence cooperation with the United Kingdom as excellent, and the UK as the biggest contributor to Estonia’s security among our NATO allies. The NATO battle group in Estonia has been under British command since spring 2017.
“We are unanimous with the British in our attitudes towards Russia, and the consequent single-minded belief that we need to take concrete action to ensure the security of NATO countries. We are also cooperating in practical terms in missions abroad, where the Estonian units have served together with the British troops. Estonian-British defence cooperation and the British contribution to our security and the feeling that our people have of being protected has been vital,” Kaljulaid said, adding that the meetings in London with colleagues from the British parliament will offer opportunities to discuss defence cooperation that is conducted both bilaterally and within the NATO.
The Committee delegation is meeting the House of Commons Chairman of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood along with the members of the Committee, and the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence John Healey. The Committee has scheduled meetings in the Ministry of Defence, in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and in the defence and security think tank RUSI.
In addition to Kaljulaid, members of the Committee Heiki Hepner, Kalle Laanet, and Alar Laneman are also taking part in the visit.
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu passed 11 Acts and concluded the second reading of seven Bills. Among them, a Bill increasing family allowances also passed the second reading.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Employment Contracts Act (625 SE), initiated by the Government. According to it, employers will have an opportunity to enter into short-term employment contracts with the unemployed in more cases. Such contracts guarantee greater protection to employees than contracts for services and authorisation agreements.
Under the current procedure, it is possible to enter into a fixed-term employment contract successively, i.e., with a less than two-month interval, twice at a maximum, or to extend it once. Due to the restrictive regulation, employers may enter into other contracts under the law of obligations, e.g., authorisation agreements and contracts for services, instead of employment contracts. In such cases, however, the employee remains without labour law protection; for example, the working time limits and the requirements for the minimum remuneration and rest and occupational safety are not applied.
The amendments allow to enter into up to eight-day fixed-term employment contracts within six months without limits. However, it will have to be taken into account that, if a new fixed-term employment contract is entered into after a six-month period, the contract becomes a contract entered into for an unspecified term.
49 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 13 were against.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Code of Enforcement Procedure and Amendments to the Act on Amendments to the Code of Enforcement Procedure and the Enforcement Agents Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (648 SE), initiated by the Government. Its aim is to make the procedure for collecting claims for maintenance more effective.
The amendments provide for a regulation under which maintenance claims that will become due in the future can also be filed to an enforcement agent for compulsory enforcement. The Act also specifies the right of the party seeking collection of maintenance to subject the payment of the maintenance to the constant control of an enforcement agent in the case when the person obligated to pay maintenance does not pay maintenance voluntarily.
52 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 13 were against.
The Riigikogu passed with 70 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Animal Protection Act and the Release into Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms Act (677 SE), initiated by the Government. The processing of animal experimentation project licence applications together with the functions of the protection of experimental animals will be transferred from the Ministry of Rural Affairs to the Agriculture and Food Board who will begin to issue authorisations on the proposal of a relevant evaluation committee. The amendments also specify the procedure for the publication of non-technical summaries and the retrospective assessment of animal experimentation projects.
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Rescue Act and Other Acts (678 SE), initiated by the Government, the purpose of which is to increase internal security and safety. The amendments concern mainly explosive ordnance disposal and fire safety and the role of the Emergency Response Centre in the development of the services of the authority and in the ensurance of the quality of services.
The Rescue Board will be able to involve volunteers with the necessary knowledge and skills in explosive ordnance disposal in order to ensure the consistency of explosive ordnance disposal for the resolution of resource-intensive events and crises. About 20 assistant explosive ordnance disposal technicians will be involved in a year and the requirements for professional qualification will be established for them. The Emergency Response Centre is given the right to use the contact details of the persons entered in the database of emergency notifications and help and information notifications in order to obtain feedback from the person who has called or has sent an SMS message to the emergency services as to whether he or she is satisfied with the service provided to him or her.
Fire safety amendments are for the most part connected with the regulation for the disclosure of the data on the maintenance of heating systems and for water points. The Rescue Board is also given the right to use a person’s contact details entered in the rescue information system with his or her consent in order to send notifications relating to the activities of the Rescue Board, for example, concerning the day of the next chimney sweep and the use of water from fire water points.
54 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 13 voted against.
The Riigikogu passed with 67 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and the Act on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (705 SE), initiated by the Government. It will postpone by one year the rises in excise duties that were due in 2023–2026. The pre-crisis level for excise duty rates will be achieved in 2027.
The excise duties for electricity and certain fuels were lowered for two years from 1 May 2020 in order to mitigate the impact that the crisis due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus would have for fuel consumers, and to facilitate economic subsistence. An Act adopted at the end of 2021 provided for a gradual four-year restoration of the excise duties for fuel and electricity to the pre-crisis level starting from 1 May 2023.
According to the amendments, the agricultural sector and oil shale mines will be able to use diesel fuel for specific purposes until 30 April 2024 at the minimum rate of the European Union which is 21 euro per 1000 litres. From 1 May 2024, the rate of excise duty on diesel fuel for specific purposes will rise to 107 euro per 1000 litres for the agricultural sector and oil shale mines will be able to use only diesel fuel taxed at the standard rate.
The Riigikogu passed with 61 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Income Tax Act (706 SE), initiated by the Government, which increases the income exempt from income tax from 500 euro to 654 euro per month. Around 368,000 people or 56 per cent of working-age residents will benefit from the amendment. People who earn 654–1200 euro per month will gain most, that is, 370 euro per year, from the amendment of the minimum rate for tax-exempt income.
The amendment will not concern the people receiving the old-age pension. The tax-exempt income to the extent of the average old age pension will begin to apply to them from 1 January and the regressive tax-exempt income system will not apply to their income. The average old-age pension is projected to be 704 euro in 2023.
The Act also extends the opportunity for legal persons to make donations and gifts free of income tax for maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine as well as for giving and organising humanitarian aid. It will be possible to make donations free of income tax until the end of next year to NPO Estonian Refugee Council, NPO Mondo, the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, the National Defence Promotion Foundation, the Estonian Red Cross, the Estonian Voluntary Rescue Association and Tallinn Old Town Rotary Club.
Reili Rand from the Social Democratic Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Riigikogu passed with 59 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Funded Pensions Act (707 SE), initiated by the Government. It will accelerate the reimbursement of the 4% contributions not made during the suspension of contributions to the funded pension from 1 July 2020 to 31 August 2021, which initially was to take place in January of 2023 and 2024 for those who had decided to remain in the second pillar pension scheme. The contributions will be reimbursed to the full extent in one year, in January 2023, instead of two years as initially planned.
The amounts to be reimbursed will be calculated according to the actual contributions but their final amount will become clear at the beginning of 2023 when the average return of mandatory pension funds from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2022 will be known. If the average return is positive, the amounts reimbursed to members of pension schemes will be increased in proportion to this. The amounts will be allocated in January and additional pension fund units will be issued to members of pension schemes on account of this.
Ivari Padar from the Social Democratic Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
The Riigikogu passed with 62 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act (720 SE), initiated by the Cultural Affairs Committee. It will enable the Cultural Endowment of Estonia to support the completion of several cultural construction works of national importance at the same time, instead of two. According to an amendment, the supporting of a cultural construction work lower down the shortlist must not affect the completion of a facility higher up the shortlist.
According to the Act, it is possible to support a facility lower down on the shortlist earlier than a facility higher up on the list if the preparation for the facility higher on the shortlist does not allow for a grant to be allocated. A precondition for funding a facility lower on the shortlist will be that this does not affect the completion of a facility higher on the list, that is, the Cultural Endowment has the readiness and possibility to begin to also support the cultural construction work higher up the list.
During the debate, Jaak Juske from the Social Democratic Party Faction, Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits from Faction Isamaa, Signe Kivi from the Reform Party Faction and Siret Kotka from the Centre Party Faction took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed with 63 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (740 SE), initiated by the Economic Affairs Committee. It will give an opportunity for local government authorities and the authorities administered by them to buy electricity from a seller of electricity at the price regulated by the Competition Authority, that is, as a universal service until 30 April 2026.
In order to use the universal service, the authority will need to enter into a new public contract with the seller of the universal service. In the case of premature termination of an existing contract, the contractual penalty that was agreed upon when the contract was entered into will have to be paid where necessary. The plan to establish a capacity limit of 1 GWh per year for electrical energy consumption within the framework of universal service for the authorities administered by local governments was abandoned in the second reading of the Bill.
The Riigikogu has already earlier established a universal service regulation for household consumers and micro and small businesses, sole proprietors, non-profit organisations, foundations, and persons who mediate electricity to consumers of the universal service.
During the debate, Taavi Aas from the Centre Party Faction and Aivar Kokk from Faction Isamaa took the floor.
The Riigikogu passed with 59 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the State Budget for 2022 Act (685 SE), initiated by the Government. It amends the distribution of expenditure by activities in programmes and the distribution of funds between expenditure and investments. According to the State Budget Act, the Government may initiate a draft State Budget Amendment Act without amending the total amount of funds not later than two months before the end of the budgetary year.
The Riigikogu also passed the Act on the Ratification of the Agreement for the Termination of the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Estonia on the Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments (646 SE), initiated by the Government. The purpose is to terminate the bilateral agreement with Norway on the mutual promotion and protection of investments. The termination of the agreement is necessary in order to ensure that investors from all EU Member States and Norway are accorded equal treatment based on European Union legislation and the agreement on the European Economic Area.
58 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act.
Seven Bills passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act (659 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading in the Riigikogu. It will create a legal basis for the adoption of an operational and location-based system for alerting the population to threats. Location-based threat alerting enables to send people instructions on how to behave in crisis situations, for example, in the event of a chemical accident, armed attack, explosion threat, wildfire or another threat.
In the case of threats that are identifiable early on, the availability of early warning gives the possibility to prevent serious consequences, for example to charge telephone batteries, to refuel, to stock up drinking water and food, to avoid going to dangerous places, to shelter or to evacuate.
While at present communications undertakings send threat alerts to all their clients and SMS roaming service users regardless of where the people are staying, in the future there will be the possibility to send threat alerts only to the people staying in particular threat areas. It will also be allowed to use regional threat alerting in crisis management exercises.
The Bill on Amendments to the Apartment Ownership and Apartment Associations Act and Other Acts (641 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. The amendments to be made will resolve problems that have arisen in practice in issues concerning apartment ownerships and apartment associations.
While currently for example a developer can submit an application for the establishment of apartment ownerships in the Digital Land Register, in the future, such transactions will have to be notarised. The Bill will allow apartment associations with up to ten apartments to maintain their accounts on a cash basis and the obligation to submit annual reports will be eliminated. At the same time, this amendment will not apply to apartment associations that have an administrator.
In addition, local governments will be given an opportunity to establish a conciliation body acting under the Conciliation Act for disputes concerning apartment ownerships and apartment associations. This will enable disputes to be settled more affordably and quickly than by court actions.
Tarmo Kruusimäe from Faction Isamaa took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Commercial Code and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (cross-border movement of companies) (713 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will transpose into Estonian law the EU directive regulating cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions. The directive adopted in 2019 opens up opportunities for companies in the EU single internal market and fosters economic growth and competition.
While cross-border merger of private limited liability companies and public limited liability companies is possible now as well, the Bill will introduce cross-border division and cross-border conversion as new possibilities. At the same time, the control over the conditions for cross-border movement will be tightened. For example, it will not be possible if restructuring, bankruptcy or criminal proceedings have been commenced in respect of the company. The provisions on the protection of the interests of members, creditors and employees will also be amended significantly. Among other things, in the future, the involvement and participation of employees in the cross-border movement of companies will be better ensured.
At the same time, the Bill will amend the verification obligation of the registrar in the issuing of cross-border movement certificates. The registrar will have to follow more widely the motives for cross-border movement. There will also be an obligation to cooperate with other authorities in the issuing of certificates in order to minimise the use of cross-border movement for malicious or criminal purposes.
The Bill on Amendments to the Persons Repressed by Occupying Powers Act and the Social Welfare Act (increasing the benefits for repressed persons and persons sent to eliminate the effects of a nuclear disaster) (698 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will increase by 62 euro the allowance paid to repressed persons and persons treated as repressed persons as well as the benefit paid to persons who were forcibly sent from Estonia to eliminate the effects of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl.
While at present the allowance paid once a year is 230 euro, according to the Bill, from next year it will rise to 292 euro. In the words of the initiators, the benefit has not increased since 2018, while in the meantime a remarkable rise in the cost of living has taken place. In the opinion of the Ministry of Social Affairs, people who receive the benefit will be estimated to number 7,800 next year.
During the debate, Helmen Kütt from the Social Democratic Party and Henn Põlluaas from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor.
The Bill on Amendments to the Medical Devices Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (701 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will repeal in the Medical Devices Act the provisions falling within the scope of regulation of EU Regulations, as a new framework for the regulation concerning medical devices has been created with EU law and the directives that have been regulating the field until now have been repealed.
The EU Regulations have set harmonised and higher standards of quality and safety for medical devices in order to meet common safety concerns as regards such devices. The Bill will specify the rights and tasks of economic operators, users of medical devices and the Health Board in the implementation of the Regulations.
Among other things, the Bill will introduce an obligation for distributors to give notice if a system of medical devices, a procedure pack or a higher-risk in vitro diagnostic medical device is distributed in Estonia for the first time. This will bring about additional administrative burden for economic operators but will help achieve a better market overview of medical devices on the market in Estonia and achieve efficiency of market surveillance in order that the Health Board could identify non-compliant, including falsified and dangerous medical devices on the Estonian market and remove them from the market if necessary.
The Bill on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act and the Family Law Act (703 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. Its aim is to improve the livelihood of families with children, to promote the birth rate and to ensure that the allowance for families with many children will be linked to the rise in salaries and in the cost of living. Particular attention will be on single-parent families and families with many children, that is, the types of families with a higher-than-average poverty risk or where the raising of children involves higher costs for the family.
According to the Bill, the allowance for the first and second child will increase from 60 euro and the single parent’s child allowance from 19.18 euro to 80 euro per month. The allowance for families with many children will increase from 300 to 650 euro per month in the case of three to six children and from 400 to 850 euro per month in the case of seven or more children. According to the Bill, from 1 May 2024 the allowance for families with many children will be indexed with the pension index.
In addition, the Bill provides an amendment in the regulation for calculating maintenance provided for in the Family Law Act. According to it, the allowance for families with many children will be taken into account to the extent of 50 per cent when calculating the minimum maintenance. The purpose of the Bill is to calculate more clearly and fairly the payment of the allowance for families with many children when calculating maintenance.
According to the initial Bill, the payment and gradual termination of the allowance for families with many children had been planned to be applied until the youngest child of the family attained 24 years of age, and then the allowance would have begun to decrease in stages. However, during the second reading of the Bill, the Social Affairs Committee decided to bring the age limit for step-by-step exit from allowance for families with many children to 19 years, that is, forward by five years. Since, as a result of the amendments, the allowance for large families will begin to decrease earlier than has been planned, the allowance is going to be 650 euro instead of the planned 600 euro in families with three to six children, and 850 instead of the planned 800 in families with seven or more children.
The Social Affairs Committee also introduced other amendments to the Bill. For example, the requirement under which the child must be enrolled in a school will be abandoned as a condition for the payment of child allowance for children aged 16–19. This will make both the allowance for families with many children and the child allowance available to families where the child does not continue their studies for some reason, for example, due to special needs. In order to promote studying, the rule will remain in place that, if a 19-year-old young person is studying during the current academic year, the payment of the allowance will be continued until the person graduates from the school or until the end of the academic year. In addition, the Bill was amended by adding a provision for situations where a child under three years of age dies. In such a case, the state will allow for a parental benefit to the extent of one month for both the mother and the father.
According to the Bill, child benefits and allowances for families with many children will increase from 1 January. Under the Bill, families where the payment of family allowances has already been terminated because the children under 19 years of age are not studying will again be entitled to family allowances. The Social Insurance Board will make the relevant payments retroactively by the end of March at the latest. Families will not have to submit applications or documents for that.
During the debate, Siim Kiisler and Jaanus Karilaid, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski and Tõnis Mölder from the Centre Party Faction, Jaak Valge, Helle-Moonika Helme, Mart Helme and Peeter Ernits from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, Heljo Pikhof and Indrek Saar from the Social Democratic Party Faction and Heiki Hepner, Tarmo Kruusimäe and Mihhail Lotman from Faction Isamaa took the floor.
The Bill on Amendments to the Social Welfare Act and the Income Tax Act (704 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the second reading. It will establish the regulation for funding the general care service provided outside the home of a person on a 24-hour basis from 1 July.
While up to now the recipient of the service and the people who maintain them have had to bear the main burden of the service, in the future, the public sector will also begin to participate in the covering of the costs of the service. The local government will cover the expenses of a qualified care worker from the cost of the service place of the person entitled to receive the service, and the recipient of the service will pay for the accommodation and catering costs and other costs related to the provision of the service.
With a view to mitigating the increasing obligation for local governments, the rate of the income tax received by local governments will be amended and the income from state pension will also begin to be taken into account in the distribution of income tax from 1 January 2024. During the transition period, that is, next year, the funds earmarked for the measure will be distributed between local governments through the support fund. The additional expenditure for the state budget is projected to be 40 million euro in 2023 and 57 million in 2024. This will enable local governments to also develop the services supporting living at home and to enhance the provision thereof.
The Social Affairs Committee made an amendment to the Bill before the second reading, under which NGO Slava Ukraini will be included in the list of associations benefiting from income tax incentives to whom legal persons can make donations and gifts free of income tax for maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine as well as for giving and organising humanitarian aid.
Helmen Kütt from the Social Democratic Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
A Bill passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the State Assets Act, the Land Reform Act and the Local Government Organisation Act (712 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will make the acts relating to land between local governments and the state simpler and more transparent.
The Bill will harmonise the possibilities to mutually ascertain and exercise public interest upon transfer of lands of the state and local governments, and the state will be given the right to intervene to acquire lands in the event of public interest. The local government will have the obligation to ascertain whether the immovable property has utility for the state where the local government begins to transfer land or constitute the right of superficies on land that it has previously received from the state without charge. Upon the return of land to the state, the state will compensate to the local government for beneficial costs incurred on the immovable, provided that these have significantly improved the immovable.
Under the Bill, the compensation and consideration that local governments pay to the state will be reduced from 65 per cent to 50 per cent of the usual value of the land upon further transfer of immovable property received without consideration as well as upon the transfer of immovable property that is suitable for developing the business environment or for use as residential land. At the same time, any beneficial costs incurred on the immovable by the local government can be deducted from the consideration paid to the state. In addition, the term for payment will be extended from five to seven years upon the transfer of immovable property that is suitable for developing the business environment or for use as residential land.
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (679 SE), initiated by the Centre Party Faction. Its purpose was that the universal service measure developed to mitigate the energy crisis would be extended to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises who are a vulnerable target group directly affected by the energy crisis similarly to household consumers.
Rene Kokk from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction took the floor during the debate.
39 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee to reject the Bill and 22 voted against it.
At the meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas acknowledged Türkiye’s efforts in helping Ukraine.
Ratas said at the meeting with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Akif Çağatay Kılıç and members of the Committee that the relations between Estonia and Turkey were excellent and the two countries were good allies in NATO. He thanked Turkey for their presence and contribution in the Baltic States and Poland, where Turkey has participated in air policing missions. “I also thank you for your efforts in supporting Ukraine, including in restoring grain exports,” Ratas said.
The President of the Riigikogu also underlined the importance of Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO, which was also discussed at the meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu with their Turkish colleagues. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Andres Sutt said at the meeting that when Finland and Sweden join NATO, it would increase the security of our region and therefore it was important that the accession process reached a result soon as a joint effort of all parties.
The Foreign Affairs Committees discussed Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as well as the situation in Iran and Syria and the views of the European Union on the events in its neighbourhood. The meeting was also attended by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, Eerik-Niiles Kross, Marko Mihkelson and Indrek Saar.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Türkiye is in Estonia at the invitation of the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu visited Türkiye in October.