Reklaam

ESTONIA

The Riigikogu concluded the second reading of a Bill increasing family allowances

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

The sitting ended at 7.33 p.m.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Ratas acknowledged Türkiye’s efforts in helping Ukraine

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Photos of the meeting with the President of the Riigikogu and meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Ratas underlined the importance of joint digital solutions of Estonia and Latvia

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Photos of the meeting (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Ratas and Sutt expressed support to Kosovo’s integration with the European Union

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Photos of the meeting (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

NATO Parlimentary Assembly is meeting in Madrid

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Prime Minister gave the Riigikogu an overview of the implementation of the long-term national development strategy “Estonia 2035”

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

The sitting ended at 7.19 p.m.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

The Riigikogu received an overview of the use of state assets and the developments in health care

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Members of National Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees were given overview of the incident in Poland

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

COSAC discussions focus on supporting Ukraine

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Ratas at the meeting with Prime Minister of Slovakia: our cooperation is especially important now

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —

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.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

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