Today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas met with Speaker of the Saeima (Parliament) of Latvia Edvards Smiltēns, who is in Estonia on his first official visit abroad. Strengthening of defence cooperation and digital cooperation was discussed at the meeting.
Ratas said at the meeting that the relations between Estonia and Latvia were excellent, and their cooperation was successful also in the Baltic Assembly, where Estonia would take over the Presidency from Latvia next year. During its Presidency of the BA, Estonia will focus on strengthening the security of the Baltic States and continuing support to Ukraine.
Ratas pointed out that it was important to continue close defence cooperation with Latvia, and also to move on with joint digital solutions, like the introduction of digital prescriptions. “Extending the use of digital prescriptions would allow using prescriptions issued in Estonia to buy medicines from Latvian pharmacies, and vice versa. This would be of help for many people moving between Estonia and Latvia,” he said.
Regional transport connections, including the construction of Rail Baltica, and synchronisation of power grids with Central Europe were also discussed at the meeting.
Ratas and Smiltēns emphasised their continuing support for Ukraine that needs every possible support and assistance to win the war. Ratas pointed out that it was also important to help Ukraine in post-war reconstruction, and Estonia had actively started with this in Zhytomyr Oblast.
At the meetings with Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Andres Sutt assured that Estonia strongly supported Kosovo’s integration with the European Union and was ready to share its experience.
Ratas said at the meeting that Estonia and Kosovo shared the same values and the relations between the two countries were friendly and excellent. “Estonia supports Kosovo’s aspirations to become a member of international organisations as well as the EU integration of Kosovo. It is especially important in the current turbulent times,” he added, and assured that Estonia was ready to share its experience and strengthen cooperation also in the spheres of education and IT, including e-governance and cyber security.
At the meeting with Kurti, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Andres Sutt thanked Kosovo for joining all sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia. “Ukraine is also fighting for our freedom today, while Russia continues committing war crimes, killing innocent people and destroying the infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said.
Sutt also assured that Estonia strongly supports Kosovo’s EU aspirations and visa liberalisation with the EU, which Kosovo had been looking forward to for years, and was ready to develop bilateral cooperation with Kosovo.
The situation in Kosovo and the Western Balkans more broadly, as well as energy and food security issues were also discussed at the meetings.
The focus of the Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid is on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its economic impact and responsibility for consequences, ensuring European security, developing transatlantic cooperation, cyber security, and other concerns of multilateral cooperation.
“The Estonian delegation’s messages at the NATO PA on supporting Ukraine and strengthening NATO’s eastern flank are straightforward and clear. We have no time for lengthy discussion. We must give our all right here and right now. Together, every one of us. What is on the table today is nothing less than the functioning of the European security structure as a whole and the future of our values,” said the head of the Estonia delegation Mati Raidma.
The Annual Session of the NATO PA takes place in Madrid on 18–21 November. The Estonian delegation consists of its head Mati Raidma, deputy head Marko Šorin, and member Mihhail Lotman.
Raidma is a member of the Assembly’s Defence and Security Committee, Šorin a member of the Political Committee, and Lotman a member of the Committee on Democracy and Security.
The Estonian delegation is planning a meeting with Georgia’s delegation to the NATO PA, as well as a meeting in the framework of the Nordic and Baltic cooperation, or NB8.
The Riigikogu heard the overview by the Prime Minister on the long-term national development strategy and the overview by the Minister of Public Administration on the last year’s report on civil service and deliberated two Bills.
The Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in her overview of the implementation of the long-term development strategy “Estonia 2035” in 2022 that, within the framework of the long-term national development strategy “Estonia 2035” adopted in the Riigikogu session hall last spring, the long-term objectives for the Estonian state and people and the changes needed to reach them had been agreed upon. “It is a strategy supporting the cooperation between the Government of the Republic and the Riigikogu and the Riigikogu plays a very important role in its implementation,” the Prime Minister emphasised.
The goals set in the strategy “Estonia 2035” provide a good landmark that also helps keep the direction amid various crises and changes. “And precisely because of these changes is it also necessary to adjust the journey to the goals from time to time. This is why, every spring, the Government of the Republic updates the action plan of the strategy “Estonia 2035” which includes both the reforms planned for the implementation and the major changes,” Kallas explained.
She added that the solution “Tree of Truth” by Statistics Estonia that combined the central indicators of the state was a data-based assistant in assessing the progress towards goals. At present it is showing that the movement towards some of the goals is progressing at a relatively fast pace, for example labour productivity, the share of research and development expenditure in the gross domestic product, and the growth of competitiveness. However, in the achievement of some goals, the statistics and trends are worrying. In her overview, she pointed out the major developments in terms of five equivalently important objectives of the “Estonia 2035” strategy.
These objectives are that smart, active, and health-minded people live in Estonia, that the Estonian society is caring, cooperative and open, that the economy is strong, innovative, and responsible with regard to people and nature, that the living environment takes everyone’s needs into account and is safe and of a high-quality and that Estonia has an innovative, reliable, and human-centred governance.
Kallas said that, in terms of the living environment, “Estonia 2035” had set the goal that it would take everyone’s needs into account and be safe and of a high-quality. According to the latest data, 84.5% of Estonian population was satisfied with their living environment. However, there are two indicators connected with the living environment that need improvement: the energy efficiency of buildings and sustainable means of mobility. The energy consumption of residential and non-residential buildings has stayed at around 16.5 TWh according to the latest data. The target is to lower it to 14.5 TWh. The higher energy prices have particularly strongly brought to the fore the need to improve the energy efficiency of housing. Next year, 75 million euro will be paid in renovation subsidies for apartment buildings. The renovation of buildings is one of the most important ways to save energy by which it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by roughly a half and to reduce heating bills but also to significantly improve the indoor climate of buildings.
The strategy also sets the target of increasing sustainable means of mobility so that the share of those travelling by public transport, bicycle or on foot would account for 55% of commuters. Regrettably it fell to 33,9% last year. It is good to see that several regions are increasingly paying attention to encouraging safe commuting on foot and by bicycle and the promotion of public transport.
Kallas noted that the crises that had emerged during the relatively short period that the strategy had been in implementation had somewhat reduced the sense of security of the population, but it was still continuing to stay high. This year, 90% of the population considered Estonia a safe country to live.
During the debate, Kersti Sarapuu (Centre Party), Reili Rand (Social Democratic Party), Margit Sutrop (Reform Party), Aivar Kokk (Isamaa) and Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
The Minister of Public Administration Riina Solman gave an overview of the civil service report for 2021.
Solman explained that 133,744 employees had been employed in the public sector as a whole in 2021, which had grown by 0.4 percentage points in 2021. However, compared with 2012, the number of public sector employees has decreased by 5487 people, that is, by 4%. The public sector is comprised of all enterprises and agencies wholly or partially owned by the state or local governments, and of their staff. 90% of public sector employees are in the government sector which covers the central government, the local government sector, and social insurance funds. The government sector covers for example state and local government agencies, schools, hospitals, and cultural institutions, as well as various companies and foundations, that is, the public sector entities who are non-market entities and who are funded mainly from the budget accrued from compulsory national payments.
Solman noted that, in terms of government sector agencies, civil service included only state and local government agencies that exercised public authority, for example, ministries, boards, inspections and city and rural municipality agencies. In 2021, civil service accounted for 2.9% of the working-age population in Estonia. This indicator has stayed around 3% over the years. Civil service with its 28,420 servants is accounting for 21.3% of total public sector staff. In ten years’ time, that is, compared to 2012, the number of civil servants has decreased by 3.2%. In recent years, however, the number of servants has been increasing as various crises have demanded response. In 2021, civil service increased by 53 servants, that is, by 0.2%. In national authorities, the number of civil servants increased by 88 people, that is, by 0.4%. In local governments, the number of people decreased by 34, that is, by –0.6%.
22,922 of the civil service staff were in service in national authorities and 5,502 people in local government agencies. Special servants who numbered 10,437 in 2021 accounted for more than one third, that is, 37% of civil service. Special servants include for example police officers, rescue service workers, prison officers and servicemen. The number of special servants increased by 0.2%, that is, by 21 special servants.
In earlier years, the salary growth has been more rapid than the growth of the gross monthly salary but due to the impacts of the coronavirus crisis the salary growth has slowed down significantly in 2021. If we compare the salary level in the agencies who participated in the national salary survey and the salary level in the private sector, in 2021, the monthly base salary in state agencies fell short of the median by an average of 14.4%, including by an average of –19.6% for top-level specialists and first-line managers. If we wish our civil service to have qualified labour force who would make maximum contribution to the development of public services, it is necessary to ensure that public sector salaries are not significantly lower than the salary level on the posts that are competing with the private sector.
“In cooperation with the heads of agencies, we are constantly looking for new opportunities to optimise governance and activities and to use the taxpayers’ money most effectively for the functioning of the state. I am continuing to attach importance to the development of e-governance and wider use of information technology solutions in the provision of public services,” Solman said. In her words, at the same time, it is clear that computers can never replace all services and the current processes will have to be reviewed in order to find more efficient options or to critically assess their practicability as a whole. Cross-sectoral issues such as green policy and the digital transition as well as the social sector and health care are demanding increasing action. This means greater cooperation across agencies and readiness for flexible distribution of tasks.
During the debate, Indrek Saar (Social Democratic Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) and Tarmo Tamm (Centre Party) took the floor.
The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of two Bills
The Bill on Amendments to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act and the Vocational Educational Institutions Act (668 SE), initiated by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, is intended to increase the minimum cost of a school meal from one euro to 1.5 euro per day per student from the new year.
In the words of the initiators, due to the high inflation and rapid price rise, it is impossible to maintain the quality of school meals for the current amounts. In their words, increasing the minimum rate of the subsidy will help ensure that school meals are healthy and delicious and continue to be available free of charge to students. The state last increased the school meal subsidy in 2018.
During the debate, Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party), Helle-Moonika Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Marko Šorin (Centre Party) took the floor.
The Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (740 SE), initiated by the Economic Affairs Committee, 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.
Rural municipality and city authorities can buy electrical energy at a universal service price without limits, while the authorities administered by them have an annual capacity limit to the extent of up to 1 GWh. 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 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 (Centre Party), Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party), Andrus Seeme (Reform Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) and Siim Pohlak (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.
During the open microphone, Mihhail Stalnuhhin and Tarmo Kruusimäe took the floor.
At today’s sitting, Auditor General Janar Holm gave the Riigikogu an overview of the use and preservation of state assets in 2021-2022 and the developments in the Estonian health care.
When introducing the audit on the national annual report, Holm said that the last year’s national annual accounts were in the main part correct, that is, they gave a correct and fair account of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the state. The audit contains a remark about the accounts on the fixed assets of the Defence Forces where problems have persisted for several years, according to the Auditor General.
Holm emphasised that the budget did not give clear instructions to the executive power on how and for what to use the funds. “If the purpose and limits of the use of the funds are not clearly known, it is not actually possible to meaningfully assess whether the Government and its agencies have followed the will of the Riigikogu in using the state budget funds. All Auditor Generals have underlined this problem throughout history,” he noted.
Holm pointed out on the positive side that, as a result of the amendment of the basic Act on the state budget for 2022, the State Budget for 2022 Act had become more detailed. “So the Riigikogu gave the executive power slightly clearer limits in the use of public funds. It is a sensible course that the Riigikogu regain its intrinsic decision-making right and obligation,” the Auditor General said.
In Holm’s words, the problem lies in performance-based budgeting in so far as Estonia’s state budget is not essentially performance-based. “As long as there are no clear agreements, specific targets, or users of outcomes in the performance-based budgeting, it will be certain that a lot of work is done that no one will need in the end. This is definitely not a sensible use of resources,” he emphasised.
When speaking of the overview of the Estonian health care and its developments, Holm said that the Estonian people had to be ready for a situation where health care services were not habitually and uniformly available with even quality everywhere in the country. He indicated that the main cause of the problem was the shortage of health care professionals which had been known for years but had kept aggravating.
“During these years there has been no shortage of meaningful and thorough analyses of the problems in the health care sector, or development plans aimed at solving the problems. There has been a shortage of the skills to implement the agreed goals, and the capability and courage to make decisions,” the Auditor General said. In his opinion, it will not be possible to return to the habitually available medical service any time soon as there is no quick solution to the staff problems.
In conclusion, Holm emphasised that the state had core functions that had a bearing on people’s lives. “It is important that, besides thinking up all kinds of new wonderful and expensive activities, we would also spare attention to widely known problems that have been waiting for a solution for years. These old problems are continuing to wait for solutions and to wait for decisions. If we fail to decide, life will make these decisions for us, and we will no longer have much of a say then.”
During the debate, Helmen Kütt took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Faction, Peeter Ernits on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, Aivar Kokk on behalf of Faction Isamaa, Margit Sutrop on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Faction and Viktor Vassiljev on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party Faction.
A draft Resolution passed the first reading
The consolidated report to be approved by the Draft 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.
The first reading of a Bill was adjourned
Due to the end of the working hours of the sitting, the first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Tobacco Act (654 SE), initiated by eight members of the Riigikogu, was adjourned.
The Bill is intended to regulate the use of tobacco-free snus and to adjust other provisions in order to ensure the safety of products and the availability of compliant and high-quality products for consumers. In the words of the initiators, the amendments will also help reduce the daily passive smoking and move Estonia down from its current third ranking in terms of tobacco deaths in Europe.
Among other things, the Bill will create the possibility for consumers to acquire laboratory-verified flavoured electronic cigarette liquids, will prohibit the sale of tobacco products and products related to tobacco products the packages of which display cartoon characters and toys, and will provide for new rules for national distance sales in order to ensure better opportunities for smokers to quit smoking with the help of less dangerous products.
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.)
Members of the National Defence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) were given an overview of the incident with a missile made in Russia that took place in Poland yesterday, and the latest developments in Ukraine, where Russia is continuing brutal destruction of civilian infrastructure. The members of both committees stated that Estonia supported its NATO ally Poland who was conducting an investigation to ascertain the circumstances of the incident.
“The international community is shocked by the missile strike that ended in the death of two people in Poland yesterday. At the same time, the biggest missile attack from Russia against the energy infrastructure and civilian objects of Ukraine took place. This is clear terror where millions of ordinary Ukrainians are suffering. Russia’s war of aggression is behind all this, and war crimes must not remain unpunished,” Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Andres Sutt said. “At today’s meeting, we were assured that Estonia’s security is ensured and we can say that there is no direct military threat to Estonia at the moment,” he added.
Chairman of the National Defence Committee Raimond Kaljulaid pointed out that not all the circumstances of the incident had been fully clarified at the moment and he recommended waiting for Poland’s official position. “Estonia definitely supports our important ally Poland, we have assured Poland of this very clearly. Our military and political support to Ukraine also remains unchanged. We will continue to support Ukraine,” he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu, who participated in the meeting, assured that Estonia was having close cooperation and information exchange with NATO allies, and supported Poland in every way. As regards possible further steps, Estonia will proceed from the results of the investigation of the incident, and the decisions and needs of Poland.
Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Raivo Tamm and Member of the Committee Kalle Grünthal attend the Plenary Meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs of Parliaments of the EU (COSAC) that is held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, until Tuesday.
Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee Raivo Tamm said that the discussions would focus on the situation in Ukraine as well as the issues relating to reconstruction of the country and receiving war refugees. “As the winter is coming, it is very important that other countries increase humanitarian aid to Ukraine. And without doubt, military assistance also has to continue,” Tamm underlined, and added that the European Union must, as soon as possible, provide Ukraine with predictable and regular financial assistance in line with the country’s needs.
The members of national parliaments will also discuss how to ensure that Russia’s crimes are investigated and war criminals are brought to justice, the imposing of new sanctions on the country, and ensuring of energy security, with an emphasis on reducing dependence on Russia’s gas, oil and coal.
The agenda of the meeting also includes overview of the priorities of the Czech Presidency and debates on the future of the European Union, strategic autonomy of the Union as well as the European perspective of the West Balkan and Eastern Partnership countries.
COSAC is a cooperation format that brings together the Committees for Union Affairs of the national parliaments of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas said at the meeting with Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger today that strengthening the relations between the two countries was especially important now when Russia was continuing war of aggression in Ukraine.
Ratas believes that Estonia and Slovakia share the same values and are good allies both in NATO and in the European Union. “I am happy we have excellent cooperation also in the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, where Slovakia is one of the founding countries,” Ratas said.
In his opinion, there is a potential for strengthening the relations between the two countries even more by developing cooperation in digital economy, e-governance and cyber security as well as in education. “We are ready to share our experience, but we are also interested in joint cooperation projects,” Ratas said, and pointed out that it was important to strengthen mutual relations especially now when Russia was continuing a war of aggression against Ukraine.
At the meeting, it was considered especially important to continue helping Ukraine in every way. “Ukraine urgently needs more military, financial and humanitarian aid as the winter is coming, and we also have to support post-war reconstruction of the country. Estonia has actively started with reconstruction work in Zhytomyr Oblast,” the President of the Riigikogu stated.
Ratas and Heger also discussed the challenges relating to receiving war refugees from Ukraine. Besides that, they spoke of various solutions to energy crisis, including using of renewable and nuclear energy, as well as supporting the people, the private sector and local governments in coping with the high energy prices.
Today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) elected Andres Sutt as its Chairman. Enn Eesmaa will continue as the Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The extraordinary elections of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee were held due to the resignation of the previous Chairman Marko Mihkelson. According to the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act, the chair and deputy chair of a committee are elected simultaneously.
Besides Sutt, Eesmaa and Mihkelson, other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee are Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, Eerik-Niiles Kross, Mihhail Lotman, Henn Põlluaas, Mailis Reps and Indrek Saar.
At Question Time of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), Member of the Riigikogu Siret Kotka asked Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo about improving the livelihood of the elderly. She pointed out that the average old-age pension was lower than the relative poverty line and very many of the elderly lived in relative poverty.
The Minister of Social Protection replied that relative poverty spoke of income disparities in society and noted that it affected the elderly more. Riisalo underlined that several steps had been taken to address relative poverty: on 1 January, the extraordinary pension increase of 20 euros and the income tax exemption on average pensions will enter into force, which, together with the indexation of pensions on 1 April, are projected to raise the average pension by around 20%, to 704 euros. Riisalo added that the subsistence level had also been raised, the benefit for pensioners living alone had been increased, a one-off allowance of 50 euros had been paid to compensate for price rises and an energy subsidy would be paid until March.
In reply to the question on whether the extraordinary pension increase should not be 50 euros instead of 20 euros, Riisalo underlined that inequality among the pensioners themselves had also increased and an extraordinary pension increase would not reduce it. “We see a need to address in particular the needs of those elderly who receive smaller pensions. This is the only way to lift the poorest pensioners out of absolute poverty, and also to put pensioners in a better position in the context of relative poverty,” the Minister said. She pointed out that the 1st pillar pension of ten per cent of pensioners was higher than 900 euros and for another ten per cent, it was under 500 euros. “If we raise pensions for everyone, we will provide less help to those who have lower pensions than 500 euros,” Riisalo said and as a possible solution, proposed to change the methodologies of calculating the national pension and minimum subsistence, which in her opinion were outdated.
During Question Time, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas replied to Mart Helme’s question about political responsibility, Jaanus Karilaid’s question about fulfilling the agreements of the Madrid Summit, Alar Laneman’s question about the photo scandal of Marko Mihkelson and security, Martin Helme’s question about the moral face of the Reform Party, Kaido Höövelson’s question about environmental charges, Peeter Ernits’s question about pictures that nobody should ever take, Marek Jürgenson’s question about people living at Neeme 50, Kert Kingo’s question about separation of powers, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski’s question about school lunch and Jaak Aab’s question about helping the entrepreneurs.
Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed athttps://www.youtube.com/riigikogu. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)