Deputy Chair of the Committee Tõnis Lukas said that the aim of the visit was to exchange experience and to learn from each other so that the young people would have good possibilities for shaping their future in their homeland. “Through educational cooperation, we can invest in knowledge and skills that will help both our nations to survive and, in the case of Ukrainians, to rebuild their country,” he underlined, and added, “We will surely gain diverse experience in the field of civil protection.”

The visit will begin today with the opening of the vocational education project of the Estonian Centre for International Development and Tallinn University. The aim of the project is to support the vocational education reform in Ukraine. The Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee will give a speech at the opening of the project and, in the second half of the week, at a seminar where the representatives of Estonia will share their experience in implementing educational reforms.

During the visit, Kersna and Lukas will meet with Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Education, Science and Innovations Serhii Babak, Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi and Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytsky. The leaders of the Cultural Affairs Committee will also attend seminars dedicated to the vocational education and higher education reform, and visit universities in Zhytomyr and Kyiv.

Kersna and Lukas also plan to visit the office of the International Criminal Court, headed by Kaupo Känd.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Cultural Affairs Committee leaders’ visit to Ukraine focuses on education reforms

Basic rate unemployment insurance benefit will be granted to a person who has worked for at least eight months during the 36 months preceding their registration as unemployed. The benefit will be paid for up to 180 days and its amount will be 50 percent of the minimum remuneration in the previous calendar year – this year the benefit would therefore be EUR 374.5 per month. People who do not meet the requirements for the benefit will be able to apply for a subsistence benefit from their local government.

According to the forecast, the implementation of the Act will increase costs by EUR 2.3 million in 2026, because the unemployment allowances granted before 2026 and basic rate unemployment insurance benefits granted under the new system will be paid at the same time. In 2027 and 2028, there will be cost savings of around EUR 23.2 million and around EUR 25.3 million, respectively. The amendments are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2026.

In addition, the Act is intended to solve the problem raised by the Chancellor of Justice that a student up to the age of 24 living separately from their family can be paid subsistence benefit only in the case when their family is granted subsistence benefit in the previous or current month. An amendment creates the possibility to exceptionally pay subsistence benefit to a pupil or student up to the age of 24 who lives separately from their family even if their family has not been awarded a subsistence benefit but the pupil’s or student’s relations with their family members have broken or the parents of the pupil or student lack the ability to support their child.

An amendment made during the proceedings includes among the exceptions for calculating the amount of work ability allowance the possibility of including a situation where, in one calendar month, a person is paid both the previous month’s remuneration and, upon termination of the employment contract or service relationship, the remuneration earned in the same month which would normally have been paid in the following month. A person can apply for a recalculation of work ability allowance if they prove to the Unemployment Insurance Fund that their income exceeds 90 times the daily rate because, in one calendar month, they have been paid both the previous month’s remuneration and, due to the termination of their employment contract, the remuneration earned in the same month but not yet paid. For a person’s work ability allowance to be recalculated, they will have to submit to the Unemployment Insurance Fund an application and a certificate from the employer showing the remunerations received and the type of remunerations, and an extract from the employment contract showing the agreed time of receipt of remuneration.

During the debate Tanel Kiik took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group, Andrei Korobeinik on behalf of the Centre Party Group and Signe Riisalo on behalf of the Reform Party Parliamentary Group.

49 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act, 28 voted against and there was one abstention.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Hunting Act (553 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. Its purpose is to give the Environmental Board the right to organise hunting all year round to prevent damage caused by wild game. Until now, the Act enabled the Board to organise hunting outside the hunting season to prevent damage caused by game. However, during the hunting season, the Board cannot currently organise game hunting, including the hunting of problem individuals, after the hunting quota is filled.

During the proceedings, an amendment was also made according to which, if necessary, wounded game can also be tracked outside the hunting area where the wound was inflicted, with a hunting permit issued by the hunting area. When capturing game, monitoring data will also have to be submitted for only one permit. In this case, the user of the hunting area will have the obligation to ask for the consent of the other hunting area for tracking and killing the game, in order to avoid getting involved in a driven hunt in the other hunting area when tracking the wounded game.

Andres Metsoja from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Tiit Maran from the Social Democratic Party Group and Yoko Alender from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

83 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act and one voted against it.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (556 SE), initiated by the Government. It changes the concept of the charge for connection to the network. Under an amendment, half of the connection costs of the producers who wish to connect to the existing electricity network will be covered by electricity consumers and the other half by those connecting to the network, and a fixed price list is established separately for those connecting to the network. According to the explanatory memorandum, this will allow potential producers and consumers to better predict their costs relating to connecting to the electricity network. In places where there is no existing electricity network, the cost-based connection charge continues to apply.

Second, the Act expands the scope of the development obligation for Elering, as well as for other electricity network operators, which will allow, in particular, investments to be made in the transmission network in order to meet the renewable electricity target set by the Estonian state for 2030.

In order to facilitate optimal network use, the provisions relating to the application of the network under-utilisation charge are specified and, in certain cases, modifications to a previously requested electricity generation technology are allowed where this leads to a more efficient use of the electricity network. According to an amendment made during the proceedings, in the future it, will be permitted to change the technology if this does not increase generation-oriented capacity and the new electricity generation technology is based on fuel combustion, hydrogen, or storage. The length restriction that has previously applied to the construction of a direct line is also eliminated. According to the explanation of the amendment, the investor makes a final decision on the construction of a direct line on the basis of commercial considerations.

An amendment was also incorporated into the Act, according to which the producer will have to use at least 95 percent of the generation capacity specified in the connection contract instead of the previous 100 percent in order to avoid underutilization charge. According to the explanatory memorandum, flexibility is provided because achieving a 100-percent contracted capacity is difficult for producers. The amendment will reduce undue risk for producers but will still require near-maximum utilization of generation capacity.

Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Mario Kadastik from the Reform Party Group, Aleksei Jevgrafov from the Centre Party Group and Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group   took the floor during the debate. Jaak Aab made a speech on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group.

58 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act and 29 voted against.

The Riigikogu also passed the Act on the Accession to the Statutes of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance  (559 SE),  initiated by the Government. It provides for accession to the Statutes of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance so that Estonia can formally become a member of the Institute.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization established in Stockholm in 1995. Its objectives are to promote democracy and to improve and consolidate democratic electoral processes worldwide. The Council of the Institute approved Estonia’s accession at the end of 2021, and since then Estonia has participated in Council sessions and events. IDEA has 35 members and two parties who have observer status.

Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.

50 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act, 12 voted against and there was one abstention.

A Resolution was passed

The Riigikogu passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council from among the Acknowledged Experts in the Field of Activity of the Estonian Public Broadcasting” (643 OE), submitted by the Cultural Affairs Committee. Paavo Nõgene and Raul Rebane are appointed as members of the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council as acknowledged experts.

The amendment is due to the fact that the mandates of Peeter Espak and Viktor Trasberg, who were appointed as members of the council in 2020, will expire on May 27. The authority of the two remaining members who are experts – Chairman of the Council Rein Veidemann and Sulev Valner – began in 2022 and will continue until 2027.

The Public Broadcasting Council includes a representative from each parliamentary group of the Riigikogu until the date of termination of the authority of the composition of the Riigikogu and four experts from among the acknowledged experts in the field of activity of Public Broadcasting whose authority continues for five years.

Mart Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Reili Rand from the Social Democratic Party Group and Peeter Tali from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group   took the floor during the debate.

50 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 11 were against it.

The Churches and Congregations Act will be amended

Today, the Riigikogu did not pass again without amendments the Act on Amendments to the Churches and Congregations Act (570 UA) which the President had refused to promulgate. It was decided to begin to amend it.

At the renewed deliberation of the Act, Chairman of the Constitutional Committee Ando Kiviberg, and member of the Legal Affairs Committee Andre Hanimägi made reports. The proposal of both committees to the Riigikogu plenary was not to pass the Act without amendments. The committees considered it necessary to make the necessary specifications to the Act, taking into account the President’s views, and to bring the Act into line with the Constitution.

Lauri Läänemets from the Social Democratic Party Group, Martin Helme and Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Vadim Belobrovtsev and Vladimir Arhipov from the Centre Party Group and Helir-Valdor Seeder from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate. Non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Peeter Ernits also took the floor.

At the plenary, no member of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act again without amendments and 85 voted against. As the Riigikogu did not pass the Act again, the deadline for submission of motions to amend it was set, which is 5.15 p.m. on 28 May, and the further proceedings on the Act will continue pursuant to the general procedure under the steering of the Legal Affairs Committee.

The Riigikogu originally adopted the Act on 9 April. Among other things, the Act was intended to ensure that religious organisations operating in Estonia cannot be used to incite hatred or violence. According to the explanatory memorandum, Estonia stands up for freedom of religion and everyone has the freedom to choose whether to follow a religion and which religion to follow. However, in addition to respecting freedom of religion, belief, and association, the state must also take into account the challenges that threaten national security and the security of society.

According to the Act, a church, congregation, or monastery operating in Estonia may not be guided in its activities by a person or association located in a foreign country and having significant influence. Nor may it be linked by statute, contract, or other documents, or economically, to a religious association, spiritual centre, governing body, or spiritual leader located in a foreign country if they pose a threat to the security or constitutional or public order of the Estonian state. Such a threat may occur, among other things, when a spiritual centre, governing body, spiritual leader, person, or association supports or has supported military aggression or has called for war, a terrorist crime, or otherwise unlawful use of armed force or violence.

The Act also specified who can serve as a minister of religion or be a member of the management board of a religious association in Estonia. A person who is not allowed to reside or stay in Estonia cannot be a minister of religion or a member of the management board of a religious association. In addition, the requirements for the statutes of a religious association were specified and the possibility was created to leave a church whose activities, statutes, or membership of the management board do not meet the requirements established. For this, the congregation or monastery will have to adopt new statutes and after that it will be possible to enter the amendments complying with the requirements into the register without the approval of the governing body of the church, in so far as obtaining such approval may not be realistic.

The President did not promulgate the Act on 24 April, considering that the restriction on religious freedom and freedom of association it created was not proportionate. He saw it necessary to discuss the Act again and to bring it into conformity with the Constitution.

Two Bills passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Social Benefits for Disabled Persons Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts  (561 SE),  initiated by the Government, passed the second reading in the Riigikogu. It will raise the upper age limit for a disabled child from 16 to 18 years of age, which means that it will be possible to determine the degree of severity of disability in children up to the age of 18, and the assessment of work ability will start from the age of 18.

The amendment will ensure equal treatment of children which at the same time will also be more understandable for parents because in the future a child will be a person under the age of 18 in the Child Protection Act, the Social Benefits for Disabled Persons Act as well as the Work Ability Allowance Act. The amendment is in line with the amendment to the Education Act, according to which a child is obliged to study until the age of 18.

The Social Affairs Committee made an amendment to the Bill for the second reading which will maintain the possibility for 16- and 17-year-olds to be placed on the waiting list for special care services, in order to provide greater reassurance to young people and their families. To this end, a provision intended to repeal the possibility of placing young people aged 16 or over on the waiting list was omitted from the Bill. Both the Estonian Chamber of Disabled People and the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities had drawn attention to the need for change.

In the future, the Social Insurance Board may continue to enter a person entitled to receive the service who is at least 16 years of age in the waiting list for a special care service if a need for the special care service has been established upon assessment of the person’s need for support.

Riina Solman Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Helmen Kütt from the Social Democratic Party Group and Signe Riisalo from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

The Bill on Amendments to the Securities Market Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (588 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the second reading. It will transpose the European Union directive aimed at promoting gender balance in the management of listed companies. According to the Bill, in order to encourage gender balance, the general meeting of a listed company will have to approve one of two targets: at least 40 percent of the members of the supervisory board or at least 33 percent of the members of the management board and the supervisory board will have to be of the less represented gender. The chosen target will have to be met by mid-2026 and the Financial Supervision Authority will have to be notified thereof.

In Estonia, the proportion of women on the boards of listed companies has consistently been one of the lowest in the EU, while for example in Latvia the proportion of women has almost doubled over the past decade. In Denmark, the proportion of women in the management bodies of organisations is 40 per cent and in Germany, Sweden, and Finland the figure is over 33 per cent. In Estonia, the share of women among directors is one tenth.

The European Commission believes that, for successful governance, it is important that both women and men are represented in the decision-making circle. A diversity of talents, experience, and skills helps to make better decisions, improves corporate governance, and fosters economic growth. According to studies, greater gender balance in management also improves financial performance and profitability.

The scope of the directive applies only to large listed companies which employ more than 250 persons and have an annual turnover exceeding EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet total exceeding EUR 43 million. There are currently 12 such companies in Estonia. The measures are of a temporary nature, as both the directive on which the Bill is based and the provisions transposing it will expire on 31 December 2038.

The Finance Committee had made an amendment to the Bill to specify the body that would have to set an individual quantitative target to improve gender balance on the company’s board. According to the proposal, the general meeting will set this target. It was also specified how shareholders were to be informed about gender balance targets and the means to achieve them, and it was provided that information on the setting and achievement of targets in the management bodies of issuers of shares would have to be submitted to the Financial Supervision Authority for the first time by 30 June 2026.

Reili Rand from the Social Democratic Party Group, Mart Maastik from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Anti Poolamets and Helle-Moonika Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate. Non-attached Members of the Riigikogu Peeter Ernits and Tanel Kiik also took the floor during the debate.

Four Bills passed the first reading

The Bill on the Accession to the Protocol to Amend the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft (587 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading in the Riigikogu. It will improve the possibilities for aircraft crew members to deal with unruly passengers on board aircraft and, if necessary, deliver them to the authorities at the destination.

Accession to the Montreal Protocol will allow Estonia to implement the Convention more effectively. At present, it is difficult for aircraft crew to take action if, for example, a passenger travelling for a holiday breaks the rules, disturbs others, or disobeys orders on board aircraft. The amendment, which aims to improve the safety of air travel, is important because the number of offences on board aircraft has increased and many such cases remain unprosecuted because the aircraft is not registered in the country where it lands.

The purpose of the Protocol is to give the states the right to deal with unruly passengers on the aircraft landing on their territories regardless of the country of origin of the aircraft.

The Bill on Amendments to the Nature Conservation Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (Natura assessment) (610 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will   allow for a Natura assessment to be carried out separately from the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment in cases where there is no wider environmental impact.

An amendment aimed at reducing bureaucracy and administrative burden will allow the assessment of the impact of the activities on Natura 2000 sites to be separated from the environmental impact assessment where an activity or the implementation of a detailed spatial plan may have a significant impact on a Natura 2000 network site but the activity will not affect the wider environment. The Bill will also specify the stages of Natura assessment.

The bill will provide for strict protection of forest habitats in Natura 2000 areas and prohibit commercial logging. The amendment is linked to the infringement procedure launched by the European Commission which accuses Estonia of failing to adequately assess the negative impact of economic activities, including logging, on the natural values of Natura 2000. According to the bill, as an exception, for example, the harvesting of firewood will be permitted in the forest habitats falling within the limited management zones of protected areas and species protection sites. Up to five cubic meters of firewood per hectare but no more than 20 cubic meters of wood per immovable per year may be cut without submitting a forest notice. Firewood may not be cut in limited-conservation areas and conservation zones.

The bill will supplement the list of the areas for which land tax is not paid in the Land Tax Act. The areas of the limited management zones of the protected areas and species protection sites and the limited-conservation areas of Natura 2000 network where forest habitat types occur will be included in the list. The Bill will also provide that, in the future, the procedure related to forest notices will be carried out in the forest register where all procedural notifications and documents will be available.

Andres Metsoja from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Tiit Maran from the Social Democratic Party Group, Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Yoko Alender from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group   took the floor during the debate.

Isamaa Parliamentary Group, the Social Democratic Party Group and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the plenary did not support the motion. 28 members of the Riigikogu supported rejection but 46 were against.

The Bill on Amendments to the General Part of the Environmental Code Act and Other Acts (611 SE),  initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. The Bill will simplify the administrative proceedings connected with services relating to environmental protection permits in order to reduce the administrative burden for economic operators and individuals. The aim of the amendments is to improve the environmental protection permits system so that the impact of an activity on the environment would be better balanced with the administrative burden relating to the permit.

The Bill contains amendments according to which it will no longer be necessary to issue environmental permits for minor activities, and in some cases, minor activities will no longer need to be registered. For example, road and bridge builders will no longer have to apply for registration of activities that pose a risk to the aquatic environment, such as the construction of a bridge or culvert as part of a road or railway. The amendment will help speed up the completion of important developments in the construction of, for example, the Defence Forces training areas and Rail Baltic.

Schools, kindergartens, and other legal entities will no longer have to apply for a registration as waste handler if they want to compost their bio-waste on site and the amount is less than one tonne per year. The Bill will also define the obligations of the parties involved in the protection of the environment more clearly, reduce the frequency of fulfilling the obligations, clarify monitoring processes and link environmental requirements, such as permit obligations and the application process, more fairly to the potential environmental impact of the activity.

The Bill on Amendments to the Nature Conservation Act, the Hunting Act and the State Assets Act (612 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. The Bill will specify the procedure for placing natural objects under protection and make derogations in nature conservation restrictions to meet the national defence objectives.

According to the Bill, only the Environmental Board can make a proposal for placing a natural object under protection; currently, everyone has the opportunity to do that. The Bill will establish requirements to ensure the protection of areas designated as compensation or mitigation areas where it is necessary to implement measures to compensate the damage to the species or habitat.

The Bill will introduce a condition to the Act that the state will not acquire an immovable about which the person already knew at the time of acquisition that it was to be taken under nature protection. However, if the protection regime is tightened later, the immovable will be acquired but the compensation will be half of its value. The Bill will provide a basis for local governments for acquiring an immovable located on a natural object placed under local protection. It will also reduce the extent of the building exclusion zone from the boundary of the flood risk area of coasts and banks.

The Bill will provide the possibility that, in areas important for national defence, nature conservation works will not always have to be carried out with the permission of the Environmental Board. For example, the restoration of mire habitats may be waived for reasons of national defence if it does not have a major impact on nature conservation and the damage to nature can be mitigated in other ways. During increased defence readiness, mobilisation, demobilisation, state of emergency, or state of war, buildings may be constructed in building exclusion zones without the consent of the Environment Board.

 The Bill is linked to an infringement proceedings launched by the European Commission which accuses Estonia of having failed to comply with all its obligations arising from the Habitats Directive and states that its conservation management plans and the conservation objectives and measures set out in them are not sufficiently detailed. The Bill will complement the list of plans which, in addition to the conservation management plan, specify the actions needed to restore the natural forest and mire habitats.

Tiit Maran from the Social Democratic Party Group, Andres Metsoja Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

The Social Democratic Party Group, the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the Riigikogu did not support the motion. 27 members of the Riigikogu supported rejection but 47 voted against it.

Four drafts were dropped from the proceedings

The Riigikogu rejected the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to submit a negative supplementary budget bill to reduce government spending in 2025” (608 OE),  submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It requested the government to submit a negative supplementary budget bill in order to reduce state government spending to the extent of at least EUR 300 million this year. At the same time, the draft Resolution provided that national defence spending and the salaries of teachers, police officers, and rescue workers would not be reduced.

At the final vote, 14 members of the Riigikogu supported the draft Resolution while a majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for the Resolution to be passed.

The Riigikogu rejected the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to submit an application to the European Commission to exempt energy production companies from the obligation to buy CO₂ quotas” (619 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group. It was intended to make a proposal to the Government to immediately begin negotiations with the governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in order to prepare a joint appeal to the European Commission and apply for a temporary exemption for energy production companies from the obligation to buy greenhouse gas emission allowances due to exceptional circumstances. According to the submitters, a temporary exemption would have lowered energy prices, supported the development of the military industry, and ensured the preservation of energy production capacities, strengthening the resilience of the EU’s eastern border.

Mart Maastik from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group, Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Hanah Lahe from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

At the final vote, 20 members of the Riigikogu supported the draft Resolution. A majority of the votes of the membership of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for the Resolution to be passed.

The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill to Bring the State Budget Act into conformity with the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (580 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It was intended to increase the transparency and understandability of the annual state budget and the role of the Riigikogu in the state budget process. The initiators found that the activity-based state      budget had become so general that it was difficult, if not impossible, to understand its expenditure.

The Finance Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 45 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection and 13 were against it.

The Riigikogu also rejected at the first reading the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu committee of investigation to investigate the circumstances of supporting a plan to build offshore wind farms” (586 OE), submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. The draft Resolution was intended to set up a committee of investigation of representatives from all parliamentary groups to ascertain the circumstances under which the government had come up with a plan to subsidise the construction of offshore wind farms in Estonia from public funds with EUR 2.6 billion or more, and whether that plan had been in line with the public interest, good business practices, and the promotion of fair competition in the economy.

The Constitutional Committee moved to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading. 45 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection and eight were against.

The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the National Audit Office Act, the Political Parties Act and Other Acts (body to monitor the financing of political parties) (599 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was cancelled at Wednesday’s sitting due to the absence of the presenter.

The sitting ended at 1.27 a.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu passed four Acts and appointed experts to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council

The Minister of Culture has stated at the Committee sitting that an explanation of the cultural policy relevance of the annex to the Estonian National Opera would be included in the preamble of the impact assessment, and the Committee would be able to add its cover letter to the document.

The Commission points out that the heritage impact assessment has to be submitted on behalf of the state of Estonia and signed by the head of the governmental authority responsible for the area, and that it has to be clearly documented who submitted the heritage impact assessment and when. Regrettably, this has not been done. According to UNESCO, the documents must be forwarded through the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture.

Last week, the Committee also discussed the fact that, as a working document had been forwarded to UNESCO through unofficial channels, it was only natural that UNESCO would be informed that it was impossible to form an opinion on the basis of that document. When the document is ready, it will be forwarded to UNESCO, digitally signed, and through official channels.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Cultural Affairs Committee did not send heritage impact assessment to UNESCO

The workload of micro-qualification studies will be 5–30 credits, and graduates will be awarded credentials which will be registered in the Estonian Education Information System. Higher education institutions may also designate a micro-qualification they offer as a micro-degree if at least half of the workload of the micro-degree curriculum is made up of degree-level subjects. Students will be able to apply for their micro-degree to be counted towards their formal studies when they continue their studies.

According to the Act, the requirements for micro-qualification studies will be implemented from 1 September.

Heljo Pikhof from the Social Democratic Party Group, Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Centre Party Group and Ando Kiviberg from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

73 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and there were two abstentions.

Two drafts were dropped from legislative proceedings

The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to allocate funds for the co-financing of Tallinn Hospital” (498 OE), submitted by the Centre Party Group. It was intended to make a proposal to allocate funds for the co-financing of Tallinn Hospital. According to the presenters, Estonia needs a Tallinn Hospital with a modern layout solution that takes into account the needs of modern infection control, adds hospital beds, increases the capacity of the healthcare system in crisis situations, allows for better cooperation of medical personnel and improves the availability of medical care services to patients.

Tanel Kiik took the floor behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate. Irja Lutsar from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group also made speeches.

At the final vote, 13 members of the Riigikogu supported the draft Resolution, and one was against. A majority of the votes of the membership of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for the Resolution to be passed.

The Riigikogu also rejected the Bill on Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Health Insurance Act (504 SE), initiated by the Centre Party Group. It was intended to restore the earlier procedure for the payment of sickness benefits where sickness benefit had been paid from the second day of sick leave. According to the proposal, only the first day of sick leave would have been the employee’s own liability. The employer would have had to pay the benefit from the second to the fourth day and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund from the fifth day. In addition, the Bill was intended to increase the sickness benefit to 80 percent of the average remuneration of the employee.

Aleksandr Tšaplõgin from the Centre Party Group took the floor during the debate.

The Social Affairs Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 45 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection and 10 were against it.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu supported the establishment of the regulation for micro-qualifications

The Act specifies the role of the state and municipalities as well as parents in fulfilling the obligation to study. For example, the state will have to ensure places in preparatory studies for young people who are not ready to continue their studies in secondary or vocational education studies because of either gaps in their language skills or other learning gaps. Local governments will have to identify young people who are not fulfilling their obligation to study, to investigate the reasons therefor and to find appropriate solutions. If the support applied by the school is not sufficient, the school will have to contact the local government. It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that the child fulfils their obligation to study and to participate in the planning of the child’s study path after basic school.

The Act makes changes to the vocational education system in particular to increase the flexibility of studies. For example, the share of general education studies and the possibility to make choices during studies will increase in secondary vocational education studies. Specialities will become broader as sector-based curricula will be created, with sub-skill modules within them. For example, it will be possible to choose the speciality of restaurant food preparation and the sub-skill of pastry chef within it. There are also plans to develop 18 new post-basic school curricula for young people entering vocational education.

A clearer basis is established for how studies outside the classroom, for example in art, music and sport schools, can be integrated into general education studies. Individual vocational or higher education modules can also be integrated in studies. At the discretion of the owner of school, in the future, vocational schools will be able to provide upper secondary, vocational as well as evening school education. In addition, completion of the curricula of applied secondary schools will become more flexible, as it will also be possible to acquire a profession without secondary education.

Free re-entry for adults in vocational training in a similar way to higher education will be limited. For example, a person can no longer study free of charge if they have already been accepted for a place in free vocational training or higher education, or if they have completed free vocational training in the previous five years.

According to the Act, the amendments relating to the obligation to study will apply to young people graduating from basic school in 2026.

During the debate, Tõnis Lukas took the floor on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Heljo Pikhof on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group, Liina Kersna on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Group and Arvo Aller on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group.

52 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act, 21 were against and there were three abstentions.

The Act on Amendments to the Simplified Business Income Taxation Act and the Taxation Act (463 SE), initiated by the Government, discusses the taxation of income earned through a business account. In the future, instead of the current progressive taxation, a flat tax rate of 20% will apply to the amounts transferred to a business account and in the case of business account users affiliated to a mandatory funded pension scheme the tax will increase by their contribution to the second pillar pension scheme.

73 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act. There was one abstention.

The purpose of the Act on Amendments to the Plant Propagation and Plant Variety Rights Act and the Forest Act (473 SE), initiated by the Government, is to solve the bottlenecks that have arisen in the field and to create more flexible solutions for undertakings by establishing exceptions.

Under the current law, the seed and propagating material to be marketed must comply with the established requirements, and the seed and propagating material of a variety that is to be included in the variety list and to be marketed must be certified. The Act creates an exception according to which seed and propagating material of old varieties marketed in small quantities may be produced, certified, and packaged differently to the requirements currently in place. In doing so, care will have to be taken not to spread dangerous plant pests. The amendment will encourage the production and marketing of seed and propagating material of old varieties.

The Act also re-establishes the possibility of including known varieties of fruit and berry crops in the variety sheet on the basis of a variety description that meets the requirements. Thus, suppliers will also be able to propagate and market the propagating material of known varieties of fruit and berry crops that have not yet been included in the variety list. It also creates the possibility for seed potato suppliers to print their own labels on seed potato packages which is a faster and more flexible solution for suppliers.

In addition, it establishes an obligation to notify the Environmental Board of an intention to carry out trials on cultivation material for the purposes of breeding tree crops or conducting scientific research or to determine whether the production of forestry material from the cultivation material would be economically viable.

71 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and one member was against.

Under the Act on Amendments to the Blood Act (476 SE),  initiated by the Government, the organisation of the reference services for immunohaematological testing will be transferred from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Health Board which is already exercising supervision over immunohaematological testing of blood and is providing the services of reference laboratory in health protection.

In order to allow flexibility and give the Health Board discretion over the term of the contract, the Act also eliminates the requirement that the term of a contract for the provision of reference services must be five years. A reference laboratory for immunohaematological testing provides a service in the course of which donor blood products suitable for the treatment of a patient are determined. The purpose of the reference laboratory is to ensure the quality of the relevant testing in Estonia.

Under the current procurement contract, the North Estonia Medical Centre Foundation will be providing the reference service of the reference laboratory for immunohaematological testing until 2027. According to the explanatory memorandum, the amendment to the Act will not entail any changes to the content or quality of the service for the providers of the reference service, patients, or healthcare providers.

70 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act. There was one abstention.

The Act on Amendments to the State Fees Act and the Act on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Precursors thereof (502 SE), initiated by the Government, raises the state fees in the area of administration of the Ministry of Social Affairs so that they would correspond to the increased procedural costs.

The increasing the of the fees will mainly concern service providers in the health and social sector who apply for an activity licence. The new state fees will cover an estimated up to 45 per cent of procedural costs and the remaining costs will be covered from the budgets of agencies.

For example, the fee for an activity licence for the provision of social services will rise from EUR 32 to EUR 100. The state fee for an activity licence for manufacture of medicinal products will increase from EUR 1,000 to EUR 2,500 and the state fee for an activity licence for wholesale trade in medicinal products will increase from EUR 1,000 to EUR 2,000. In the latter, the rate of the state fee has remained unchanged for eight years and currently covers a small part of the actual costs of the review.

The amendment is estimated to increase state fee revenue by EUR 139,000 next year.

During the debate, Urmas Reinsalu took the floor on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group.

50 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 22 were against.

The Act on Amendments to the Act on Amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Military Service Act, and the Income Tax Act (509 SE), initiated by the Government, changes the date for abolishing decreasing tax allowance.

Last year, amendments to the Income Tax Act were adopted according to which a single income tax allowance of EUR 700 per month, that is, EUR 8,400 per year will apply from 2025. Persons of old-age pension age will constitute an exception, and they will be entitled to a higher tax allowance. According to the Act that was passed, a single income tax allowance will apply from 2026.

The Act also updates the limits for tax-free allowances. The Act updates the provisions on the daily allowance during an assignment abroad, the cost of meals given to a crew member during voyage and to a member of the crew of civil aircraft during flight, the costs of entertaining guests, promotional gifts, expenses for the accommodation of an employee, expenses made for improving the health of an employee, souvenirs given non-profit associations, and the compensation for using a personal automobile.

The amendments made during the second reading concern tax exemption for compensations to members of the Defence League related to the use of a personal motor vehicle, medical examination, and injury or death. The list of health-promoting services in the case of which the costs incurred are exempt from tax for the employer were also specified. NGO Freedom Convoy was included in the list of associations to whom legal persons can make donations for Ukraine free of income tax.

55 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 12 were against.

The amendments made under the Act on Amendments to the State Budget for 2024 Act (517 SE), initiated by the Government, are related to the specified distribution of the budget within areas of government and between them. According to the State Budget Act, the Government may initiate an amendment of the State Budget Act without amending the total amount of funds not later than two months before the end of the budgetary year.

The Riigikogu adopted the state budget for 2024 on 8 December last year. The state budget had a revenue volume of around EUR 16.7 billion and an expenditure volume of around 17.7 billion and an investment budget of around EUR 817 million and a financing transactions budget of 1.4 billion.

In the first half of this year, the Riigikogu amended the State Budget for 2024 Act in order to make the necessary allocations for raising teachers’ salaries without amending the total amount. In order to reduce the budget deficit, the Riigikogu also approved a supplementary budget this summer. Expenditure was reduced by 103.8 million euro and investments by 22.7 million and revenues were increased by 41.9 million.

During the proceedings, the Riigikogu specified the expenditure of ministries in the Bill and provided for a ban on the transfer of funds directed to the government reserve.

During the debate, Rain Epler took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Urmas Reinsalu on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group.

45 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 25 were against.

The Riigikogu passed 11 Resolutions

The consolidated report approved by the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Approval of the 2023 Consolidated Report of the State” (503 OE), submitted by the Government, gives an overview of the achievement of the goals of the state budget, and of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the state in 2023. The report provides the Government with the opportunity to explain its activities during the accounting year and submit the necessary information to the Riigikogu for making new resolutions regarding the budget. It provides the Riigikogu with the opportunity to audit the activities of the Government.

The consolidated annual report of the state includes the audit report of the National Audit Office. According to it, the 2023 annual accounts of the state reflect in all important aspects fairly the financial position of the state and the financial performance and the cash flows in the past accounting period.

In the opinion of the National Audit Office, the economic transactions of the state have mostly been carried out in conformity with the State Budget Act, the State Budget for 2023 Act and the Acts on amendments to the State Budget for 2023 Act. In the report on the implementation of the state budget, the National Audit Office made a remark about the data on the implementation of the budget in the area of government of the Ministry of Defence where the revenue from subsidies received was shown higher by 24.27 million euro, investments were shown  higher by 22.70 million and expenses were shown higher  by 167.18 million than the data set out in the summary part of the consolidated report.

According to the data of the consolidated annual accounts of the state, the state had 24.07 billion euro worth of assets as at the end of 2023 and the assets increased by 85 million euro over the year. At the same time, the consolidated liabilities of the state amounted to 18.45 billion euro which is 1.72 billion euro more than the year before. The general government statistical deficit increased to 1.28 billion euro, or 3.4% of GDP.

Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Aivar Sõerd from the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

46 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 25 were against.

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” (477 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable Estonia to participate with up to 110 servicemen in the United States-led international military operation Inherent Resolve next year. The operation focuses on the stabilisation of the security situation in Iraq and Syria.

With its participation in international military operations, Estonia confirms its commitment to contribute to achieving peace and stability in the world. Estonia’s participation in the US-led international operation against terrorism is also supporting the excellent allied relations as well as defence and security cooperation between Estonia and the US. The participation in the operation is also providing a major operational output for the Defence Forces.

Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Peeter Tali from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

56 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and five were against.

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” (478 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to continue contributing with up to three servicemen in the NATO mission in Iraq next year.

NATO Mission aims to address threats to the Alliance from the south and assists Iraq in building sustainable, transparent, inclusive and effective security institutions. With a view to increasing Iraqis’ ability to stabilise their country, fight terrorism and prevent the return of Daesh, NATO advises Iraqi security structures and offers trainings in close cooperation with the Iraqi Government, the office of the national security adviser, and operation Inherent Resolve.

By participating in NATO operations in the southern direction, Estonia contributes to ensuring security and supports the fight against terrorism.

51 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and four were against.

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” (479 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable the use of up to 100 servicemen in international military operations led by NATO or its member state, the EU, or the UN, except in collective self-defence operations, upon the first contribution thereto. Estonia’s specific contribution will depend on the needs of the specific operation.

The Resolution will ensure Estonia’s capability of deploying units of the Defence Forces to crisis and conflict regions quickly and flexibly where necessary in order to contribute to ensuring international stability and so to also protect Estonia’s security interests.

Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal took the floor during the debate.

50 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 11 members were against.

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 Assistance Mission in Mozambique” (480 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to participate with up to three servicemen in the EU Military Assistance Mission in Mozambique next year.

While it was previously a training mission, it was transformed into a military assistance mission this September. The updated mandate, valid until summer 2026, provides for advising the country’s armed forces in organizing the training cycle and ensuring sustainability. The military assistance mission operates with a smaller personnel and focuses more on providing strategic level advice in order to achieve a self-sustained rapid reaction force training capability in the country.

By participating in the mission led by Portugal, Estonia is contributing to meeting the objectives approved in the EU’s Strategic Compass where crisis management plays a significant role. It is also important to Estonia to develop cooperation with the strategic allies on the EU’s southern flank.

Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.

56 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and eight voted against. There was one abstention.

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” (481 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to participate with up to three servicemen in operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI next year.

The primary aim of the operation is to support the implementation of the UN arms embargo on Libya. This includes carrying out inspections of vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya suspected to be carrying arms or related material to and from Libya. 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.

By participating in the operation, Estonia is contributing in solidarity with the other Member States to EU defence cooperation and security on the EU’s southern border.

60 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the European Union International Military Operation EUNAVFOR ASPIDES” (482 OE),  submitted by the Government, will enable to participate with up to three servicemen in the EU military operation in the Red Sea region which was established  to safeguard freedom of navigation and was launched in February this year.

The purpose of the operation is to achieve naval presence and situational awareness and to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. Among other things, vessels are protected against attacks and accompanied within the entire area of operations. The operation is strictly defensive in nature, i.e. no military strikes are organized within it.

Participation in the operation enables Estonia to contribute to the implementation of the EU common security and defence policy and to develop cooperation with strategic allies on the EU and NATO southern flank.

Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

68 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution.

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” (483 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to contribute with up to 24 servicemen to the composition of the United Kingdom’s Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) next year.

The JEF is a coalition of the willing, initiated and led by the United Kingdom, which is generally ready to contribute quickly and flexibly to operations from humanitarian crises to conventional warfare. The JEF is capable of operating on its own and as part of other larger military units and NATO. The use of the JEF is flexible – either all or some Member States can initiate actions and operations and participate in them.

Based on a joint decision of countries, the JEF focuses on ensuring security in the Baltic Sea region, the Far North, and the Atlantic Ocean region, thereby directly enhancing the defence and deterrence posture in the Baltic states.

Martin Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.

57 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and eight voted against.

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” (484 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to participate with up to three servicemen in the UN  peacekeeping operation  UNIFIL next year.

The UN peacekeeping mission plays an important stabilising role in the region in curbing the spread of violence. The operation is mandated to monitor the situation, to contribute 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. With its participation in UN operations, Estonia contributes to UN’s activities in securing peace.

55 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and seven voted against.

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” (485 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to contribute with up to 76 servicemen to the composition of the NATO readiness units next year.

In connection with the establishment of a New Force Model, the concepts of both the NATO Response Force and the NATO Readiness Initiative in their current form were eliminated from July this year and they are replaced by a lighter and more mobile NATO rapid reaction force (ARF) which is in readiness to carry out military operations.

The establishment of the rapid reaction force was agreed upon at the NATO summit last year in order to support the implementation of the new defence plans and to be ready to respond to threats and crises even more flexibly. ARF conducts operations in all domains and the rapid reaction force is combined of NATO allies’ forces.

Estonia will contribute to NATO readiness units with a mine countermeasures vessel and a staff officer next year.

53 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and nine voted against.

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, Jordan, and Syria” (486 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to participate with up to three servicemen in the UN peacekeeping operation UNTSO next year.

UNTSO is the first UN peacekeeping operation to focus purely on observation. Its area of operation includes Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria and the operation’s headquarters are in Jerusalem.

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. The participation in the operation gives serviceman the opportunity to gain versatile staff work experience.

During the debate, Mart Helme, Anti Poolamets and Varro Vooglaid took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Raimond Kaljulaid on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group and Peeter Tali and Kalev Stoicescu on behalf of Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group. Non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Alar Laneman also participated in the debate on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group.

59 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and nine voted against.

Eight Bills passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and Other Acts (510 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It will raise the excise duties on alcohol, tobacco, and petrol from 2025 to 2028.

Together with the excise duty increases already established, the excise duty rate on tobacco products will increase by ten percent in 2025 and 2026, and the excise duty rate on alcohol by five percent in 2025 and ten percent in 2026. According to the Bill, the excise duty on alcohol and tobacco products will also increase by five percent in 2027 and 2028. In the second reading, the Riigikogu made an amendment to the bill under which the additional increase in alcohol excise duty planned for July next year is cancelled in order to prevent a growth in trading in the border area.

The rate of excise duty on unleaded petrol and other fuels taxed at the same rate, including aviation spirit, will rise by five percent over the next four years. The excise duty will increase from 1 July in 2025 and from 1 May in 2026, 2027 and 2028. The rate of excise duty rate on petrol has remained unchanged since 2018.

In addition, in the second reading, the Riigikogu decided to abolish the derogation limiting the activities of the Physical Fitness and Sport Endowment. Currently, 3.5 percent of the alcohol and tobacco excise duty received is allocated to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, while 0.5 percent of the excise duty is directly allocated to the Physical Fitness and Sport Endowment. The amendment will not affect the amount allocated to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, but it will eliminate the derogation, making the financing of endowment funds more legally clear and uniform. In the future, all eight endowments of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia will receive funds on the basis of uniform distribution principles.

Aleksandr Tšaplõgin and Lauri Laats from the Estonian Centre Party Group, Mart Helme, Martin Helme, Rain Epler and Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Group, Urmas Reinsalu and Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Annely Akkermann from the Estonian Reform Party Group took the floor during the debate. Non-attached Members of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal and Henn Põlluaas also took part in the debate.

The Estonian Centre Party Group and Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. 26 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 50 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.

The Security Tax Bill (512 SE), initiated by the Government, will establish a security tax until the end of 2028 in order to collect additional tax revenue for the development of Estonia’s defence capability and for security investments.

According to the Bill, the security tax will consist of three components: two per cent on turnover starting from 1 July 2025, two per cent on the income of a natural person starting from 1 January 2026 and two per cent on corporate profits starting from 1 January 2026.

In the second reading the Riigikogu incorporated into the Bill an amendment directed against abuses under which security tax will be charged without taking into account transactions, series of transactions, and accounting entries the main purpose of which is to obtain a tax advantage. Since the security tax and advance payments will be based on unconsolidated profit, the possibility to pay advance payments on the basis of the profit of previous quarter will be included in the bill.

For the sake of clarity, the Riigikogu made a specification to the Bill according to which the profit of the unconsolidated income statement of the parent company will be taxed. The calculation of the profit or loss of subsidiaries and associated companies was also specified in the Bill in order to avoid double taxation and an amendment was made to the range of companies that can take the quarterly reporting of profits as the basis when calculating their advance payments of security tax. The amendments also include a number of specifications concerning the submission of tax returns.

The projected impact of the amendment on the budget is EUR 113 million in 2025, EUR 751 million in 2026, EUR 784 million in 2027 and EUR 822 million in 2028. According to the explanatory memorandum, the more precise targeting and breakdown of expenditure will be set out in the State Budget for 2025 Act and the State Budget Strategy for 2025–2028.

Aleksandr Tšaplõgin, Lauri Laats and Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Estonian Centre Party Group, Kalev Stoicescu from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Kristo Enn Vaga and Maris Lauri from the Estonian Reform Party Group, Urmas Reinsalu and Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Siim Pohlak from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group took part in the debate.

The Estonian Centre Party Group and Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. 24 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 48 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.

The Pre-school Education Bill (419 SE), initiated by the Government, will establish a comprehensive pre-school education system, make the childcare service part of the pre-school education system and  harmonise the requirements for childcare facilities and existing crèches. The childcare service will remain a social service only for the cases where a child has a high need for care and assistance.

The Bill will raise the qualification requirements in place for the staff of preschool child care institutions. According to the bill, the director of a preschool will have to have at least a master’s degree, a childminder will have to have at least a secondary education and a level 4 qualification as a childminder and an assistant teacher will have to have at least a secondary education, a level 4 qualification as a childminder, or pedagogical competences. In the future, childcare facilities will have to draw up a childcare curriculum, similarly to the current crèches. Pre-school education in preschool and childcare will have to be organised in Estonian according to the national pre-school education curriculum.

The Bill is also intended to eliminate waiting lists for preschool. To this end, the Bill provides that local governments will have to guarantee a place in a childcare facility for all children aged between 1.5 and 3 years, and in a preschool for children aged between 3 and 7 years, at the request of a parent, taking into account the location preferred by the parent. If there are no vacancies at the parent’s preferred childcare facility or preschool, a place will have to be offered in a childcare facility or preschool close to home. A two-month time limit will be provided for the municipality to process applications.

At a parent’s request, the service may also be provided on the territory of another city or municipality if there is a relevant agreement between the local governments. In addition, the Bill will support cooperation with the private sector in the guaranteeing of childcare and preschool places, as it is possible for municipalities to buy services from private companies. In such cases, the requirements in place for municipal preschools will extend to private preschools. In private preschools that have not been mandated by the local government to carry out their task, instruction and education activities may continue in another language, but Estonian language training will have to be ensured according to the national pre-school education curriculum.

In general, the Bill will make no changes to the system for funding pre-school education. The Bill will provide for the possibility of supporting local governments from the state budget for the continuing training of teachers, for Estonian language instruction and for the acquisition of teaching materials. In addition, according to the Bill, parents will also be able to apply for income tax refunds for their children who are attending childcare.

In the second reading, several amendments were made to the Bill. An amendment provides that, in order to guarantee job security for a trainee teacher, the director of a preschool can enter into a contract of employment for up to three years instead of a one-year contract of employment with a person undergoing teacher training. The standard duration for completing the curriculum of pre-school education teacher is three years.

Another amendment provides for harmonizing the ratios of child care groups with the ratios of preschool child care groups and preschool groups where the group has a qualified teacher. An amendment was also made to the Bill to specify that private child care facilities can also operate in residential buildings and on residential land so that the existing child care facilities would be able to continue in their current locations and new child care facilities would have this flexibility as well.

Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Estonian Centre Party Group, Helle Moonika Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Helir-Valdor Seeder and Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Margit Sutrop from the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group as well as non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Jaak Valge took part in the debate.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, the Estonian Centre Party Group and Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. 16 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 44 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.

The Bill on Amendments to the Waste Act and the Packaging Act (430 SE),  initiated by the Government, will make mostly technical amendments  to the Act which will help understand more clearly the existing rules and will not change the existing principles.

The Bill will make it simpler and clearer to give away tyres. The creation of a single producer responsibility scheme will reduce costs through economies of scale, and in the future businesses and consumers will be able to bring unlimited quantities of scrap tyres to collection points free of charge. The Bill will also specify the terms of motor vehicle manufacturer and manufacturer of motor vehicle components. It will also specify the provisions relating to the security and insurance required when applying for an environmental permit for the storage of waste and the management of hazardous waste.

The Bill will clearly outline the requirements for the buying up and reception of products of concern to reduce disputes and ensure proper waste management. In addition, the limitation period for misdemeanours concerning violation of the obligation to take back, collect, recover, and dispose of waste generated by products of concern will be extended from two to four years.

Before the second reading, the Environment Committee included an amendment in the Bill to create the possibility for packaging undertakings to apply a deposit to all packaging on the basis of the Packaging Act. The procedure in force until now allowed adding a deposit only to certain types of packaging, but did not allow to exempt from VAT such a deposit for which there was no regulation in the Packaging Act.

Evelin Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group participated in the debate.

The Public Health Bill (433 SE), initiated by the Government, will establish a new consolidated text of the Public Health Act in order to update the sector and to replace the Public Health Act that has been in force since 1995. The Bill will establish the responsibilities of all parties – the state, municipalities, and organisations – and will update requirements and restrictions to protect human health. More attention will be paid to prevention and children.

The Bill will set out environmental and catering requirements for preschools, schools as well as social welfare institutions. For example, the role of head of school in creating an environment conducive to healthy eating will be increased. The Bill plans to ban the provision of tanning and tattooing services to minors. There are also plans to lay down requirements for electromagnetic fields, cosmetic products, beauty services, and swimming pools.

The new regulation will set restrictions on the use of products and services that pose a direct health risk. Restrictions will be imposed on the use of toxic plants, animals, and plant and animal products and dangerous chemicals in order to protect or improve health.

The Bill will amend the Advertising Act and the Consumer Protection Act in order to extend the supervision competence of the Health Board and to give the Board the right and obligation to exercise supervision over the legitimacy of the commercial practices relating to products and services, including advertising, in order to protect human health.

The Bill will also update the maximum fine and penalty payment rates in the Public Health Act and some special Acts in order that they would be sufficiently effective.

Another important amendment will be made to the Act on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Precursors thereof so that new psychoactive substances potentially dangerous to the health of the population could be removed from the market more quickly in the future.

Riina Solman from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal took the floor during the debate.

Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. Three members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 43 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.

The purpose of the Bill on Amendments to the Imprisonment Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (474 SE), initiated by the Government, is to ensure more effective protection of legal order and prison security, and to contribute to directing prisoners to law-abiding behaviour.

The Bill will specify the right of the prison service to carry out background checks in justified cases and will provide for clearer legal bases for this. It will also specify the provisions concerning the database of prisoners, detained persons, persons in custody and probationers.

The Bill on Amendments to the Public Transport Act (499 SE), initiated by the Government, will streamline the regulation of travel concessions in public transport and will bring it into conformity with the decision of the European Court of Justice on compensation of the obligation to carry  children of pre-school age and persons with disabilities free of charge.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that, under a European Union Regulation, undertakings must be compensated for the costs arising from the obligation, which have not been fully compensated in Estonia so far. The Bill will introduce a basis for the payment of targeted subsidies to commercial operators for transporting passengers with the right to travel free of charge. It also provides for the principles for calculating the compensation, the list of data to be submitted for the application for support and the procedure for payment and reimbursement of support.

According to a motion to amend submitted before the second reading, in order to receive compensation from the state for “zero tickets” issued to passengers, commercial carriers will have to check passengers’ documents certifying their right to travel free and, when applying for subsidy, they will have to provide, among other things, the personal identification codes of the people who have travelled free. It will be possible for the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture to check the accuracy of the data     provided by the carrier before a compensation is disbursed.

The Bill on Amendments to the Customs Act (515 SE), initiated by the Government, will increase the rates of fines for legal persons which have remained unchanged in the Customs Act since 2001 and will bring the fine rates into conformity with the rates provided for in the Penal Code.

In order to make the work of the investigation department of the Tax and Customs Board more efficient, the list of the special equipment of the Board will be amended, and binding means, a device for forcibly stopping vehicles, and a technical barrier will be included in it. In addition, the Bill will also give the Director General of the Tax and Customs Board and the staff of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences the right to wear the uniform of the Tax and Customs Board.

The sitting ended at 2.29 a.m. on Thursday.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu approved replacement of compulsory school attendance with an obligation to study

The Chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee Heljo Pikhof called for the restoration of dignity to the teaching profession. She admitted that although Estonia was contributing towards the education system more compared to other countries, this did not ensure a better standard of living for the teachers nor the best possible education because the school network was out of balance.

“The differences are too great between rural and urban schools, between schools in small towns and big cities,” she said. She pointed out that around 25 percent of students attended rural schools and yet the rural schools make up half of all the schools. That is why teachers in rural areas are often underemployed, and there are also more unqualified teachers in rural areas. At the same time, bigger cities, specifically Tallinn and Tartu, lack teachers, a lack which will only be further exacerbated with the transition to the Estonian language of instruction and inclusive education.

Pikhof could see no other alternative to reorganising the school network; however, this should not necessarily mean the wholesale closure of small schools. “The loss of rural schools would not be disastrous for Estonia’s regional development alone, but also to the economy as a whole, our defence capability, Estonia in general. We must find a new format, tailor-made for Estonia,” Pikhof emphasised, acknowledging the work of the Foresight Centre in carrying out research and making suggestions. “One possible solution for sparsely populated areas would be multi-purpose energy efficient communal centres which house small local schools alongside other important service providers. Those could easily fit a library, seminar and cultural spaces for school ceremonies and village parties, but the premises could also be rented out to provide extra income for the community centre.”

“We should definitely discuss whether and how two or more local governments could run a school together,” Pikhof said. She evoked the need for children to go to school at a reasonable distance from their homes, which makes the most suitable school locations often close to the borders of several local governments. “We should also develop solutions for local governments to set up joint schools or community centres,” Pikhof said. She added that a closer cooperation between nearby schools and rural municipalities could also help to balance out any regional surplus or lack of teachers.

The Chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee highlighted the problem of the growing educational gap due to differences in incomes and values, and added that in this respect, the rural schools were often at a disadvantage compared to schools in bigger cities. Pikhof stressed that we needed a serious dialogue on how to overcome the disadvantages caused by the background of the students.

The Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas drew attention to the fact that Estonia was one of the few countries where the education system has been built from the ground up – Estonia’s education system is older than Estonia’s independence.

“In Estonia, we have a nationwide duty and agreement to ensure a common standard of education, a uniform accessibility both in terms of quality as well as volume. A uniformly good education is available in every corner of Estonia from a uniformly well-qualified teachers, following a uniform curriculum and in equal volumes,” Kallas explained the principles of the uniform school system. Next to the uniform school system, she highlighted autonomy, respect for science, and the high status of education and teachers as the founding principles of education in Estonia.

Concerning the principles of the education network, the Minister explained that our schools were very varied, which also provided options for the parents. “Depending on the community, we have 6-year schools, tiny primary schools, a separate system of state secondary schools, large gymnasiums, regional basic schools with different cultural features, and there are also differences in teaching principles,” Kallas listed. She said that the school network also needed to be based on the principle that, for small children in particular, the school must be close to home, while the gymnasium was intended to prepare for university and was not meant to be local.

The Minister explained that our school network had been shaped in the 1980s based on planned economy and the density of population at the time, and no longer corresponded to the current population densities. She added that the so-called pipeline schools, i.e. schools that include all the years from 1 to 12, did not meet the modern needs, unless they were specialised in something. Kallas emphasised the need to respect the basic principles of education and the education network as well as the foundations of inclusive education in reorganising the school network. She would like to see the responsibilities of the state and the local governments in reorganising the school network be clearly set out.

Kallas also gave an overview of the progress in the reorganisation the school network so far. She highlighted a support measure for preserving local schools in rural areas, bringing progymnasiums into rural municipality centres and handing the responsibility for the gymnasium level to the state. She also mentioned the negotiations on the school network reform in Tallinn and the reorganisation of the school network in Ida-Viru County with the support of the European Union, to make sure that the school network would respect the population densities and modern views on education.

The Head of Kilingi-Nõmme Gymnasium Erli Aasamets sees huge educational peculiarities in Estonia which have undoubtedly constituted massive challenges but have also created an excellent and broad base for culture and governance.

Saarde rural municipality on the Latvian border is one of the most sparsely populated local governments, where the school network has been regularly and consciously updated. “We have an excellent experience in reorganising the educational network,” she said. “We have reached the conclusion that our school and kindergarten combination in Surju is the optimal solution. We have concluded that in view of the size of the area and our location, our gymnasium is the perfect size.”

The head of school admitted that their perspective on educational economics might have been unusual. For example, the local government has a tacit agreement that no child should leave home before seven in the morning and the students receive a filling breakfast at the school, paid for by the rural municipality. As a result of 15 years of work, the whole infrastructure has been converged in one place: stadium, sports building, gymnasium, music school, library, day centre, and student dorm. She believes that Saarde rural municipality has dealt with the right topics at the right time and has based its important decisions on scientific premises.

Since 2014, they have had a functioning career model for teachers and a differentiated pay system. Aasamets emphasised that the pay should not increase when a teacher has done a good job for five years, but when the teacher sees what they would like to start doing over the next five years. “It is then that we must support them,” Aasumets stressed.

Member of the Management Board of the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities and Tori Municipality Mayor Lauri Luur spoke about his experience in reorganising the school network in Pärnu County. He thinks that organising the school network before the education reform is carried out would be a complicated task, particularly in rural municipalities with only one school.

Luur talked about the falling resident and student numbers and the inevitability of reorganising the school networks in local governments. “Leaders of local governments are also left in no doubt that the school network needs to be optimised. Nobody believes that we can go on like before,” Luur said. He emphasised the need to develop centres and alluded to activity hubs or support activity centres included in the rural municipality plan of Pärnu County, which are sensible places to invest in to ensure the continuation of rural life. Luur admitted that in rural areas where the population numbers kept declining it was not easy to make big investments, for example to reconstruct a gymnasium building or build a new one.

The Mayor suggested directing investments into renovating the school network and drew attention to the fact that local governments needed to finance comprehensive hobby education after the school day in addition to school education.

During the debate, Tõnis Lukas (Isamaa Parliamentary Group), Kadri Tali (Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group), Vadim Belobrovtsev (Estonian Centre Party Group), Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group), Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party Group), as well as Margit Sutrop and Jürgen Ligi (Estonian Reform Party Group) took the floor.

Photos of the sitting (Author: Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592, +372 510 6179
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Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Riigikogu discussed strong rural schools and school network

The Supervisory Board of the National Opera also includes members of the Riigikogu Urve Tiidus and Helle-Moonika Helme. Other members of the Supervisory Board include: Ivari Ilja, Kerri Kotta, Tarvi Sits, Kristi Vinter-Nemvalts, Merilin-Siret Sahku, Riina Viiding, René Eespere and Mart Mikk.

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.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
Phone: +372 631 6592, +372 510 6179
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Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu appointed a new member to the Supervisory Board of the National Opera

According to the Bill, it will also be 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.

The Riigikogu passed an Act

At its sitting today, the Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Fishing Act (136 SE), initiated by the Government. It introduces the system of individual quota in commercial fishing on Lake Peipus, Lake Lämmijärv and Lake Pskov instead of the current “first come, first served” principle (so-called “Olympic fishery”) and regulates issues relating to fishing rights, quotas and supervision.

The amendments to the Act give the Government the right to set annual catch limits for fishing gear on Lake Peipus, Lake Lämmijärv and Lake Pskov. This will allow to allocate fishing efforts more evenly during the fishing season and will provide fishers with the stability to catch their catch in the designated quantity. The Government will be granted discretion in deciding on which fish species to set annual catch limits, but the initiators wish to set specific permitted catch limits or individual quotas for applicants, at least on the economically most important species, like zander and perch, as well as for Peipus smelt and vendace, on Lake Peipus, Lake Lämmijärv and Lake Pskov.

Under the Act, the legitimately acquired fishing opportunity of an operator will be reduced by ten per cent in the subsequent two years if the operator repeatedly commits the seven serious infringements listed in the Fishing Act. This means that if a serious infringement of fishing requirements is committed under the same fishing authorisations for a second time, the fishing opportunity of the operator will begin to be reduced. At the same time, the inspector of the Environmental Board will have a discretionary power not to qualify an infringement as serious.

During the debate, Tarmo Tamm took the floor on behalf of the Centre Party Faction.

59 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and three voted against.

The Riigikogu passed a Resolution

The Riigikogu decided to appoint Heiki Hepner as a member of the Supervisory Board of the State Forest Management Centre and to remove Mihhail Korb from the Supervisory Board.

30 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Removal of a Member and Appointment of a New Member of the Supervisory Board of the State Forest Management Centre” (727 OE), submitted by the Environment Committee, and two voted against.

One Bill passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (675 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee, provides that the natural gas used for the regasification of liquified natural gas (LNG) will be exempted from excise duty. This has already been provided for the natural gas used to operate the natural gas network as well as for the electricity used to maintain the capability to generate electrical energy. The explanatory memorandum notes that a mooring quay and infrastructure with a capability to moor a floating storage and regasification unit is being constructed as a matter of urgency in Paldiski in order to ensure energy security and natural gas supply security in the energy crisis; however, regasification of liquefied natural gas has not been taken into account in our excise duty regulation and the regulation needs to be amended.

The Riigikogu did not pass two Resolutions

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to develop an action plan for completing the construction of Tallinn Hospital, for creating the capability for a multipurpose medical helicopter and for constructing Rohuküla railway” (651 OE), submitted by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, was intended to make a proposal to the Government to develop an action plan for how to fund the construction of Tallinn Hospital that has already been committed to, to acquire the indispensable medical helicopters and to construct the section between Turba and Risti on Rohuküla railway.

During the debate, Martin Helme took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, Tõnis Mölder on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party Faction, Reili Rand on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Faction and Jürgen Ligi on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Faction.

31 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the draft Resolution. A majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, 51 votes in favour, would have been needed for it to be passed. Thus, the draft Resolution was not supported.

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to lower the VAT on food to 9 per cent” (653 OE), submitted by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, would have made a proposal to the Government to lower the VAT on food to 9 per cent.

31 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the draft Resolution. A majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, 51 votes in favour, would have been needed for it to be passed. Thus, the draft Resolution was not supported.

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.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
Phone: +372 631 6592, +372 510 6179
E-mail: merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Bill on the funding of cultural construction works passed the first reading in the Riigikogu

Chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee Aadu Must underlined that education and educated people had a vital role in the emergence of the Estonian statehood. “Through decades, educated people have been the security and basis of our national independence,” he said. In the opinion of the Chairman, it is good to see that the universities present a united front and work in the name of the success of our higher education.

Must also gave an overview of the discussions on the issues relating to the role, quality and financing of higher education in the Cultural Affairs Committee.

Must said that the Committee had started to prepare for this discussion in 2020, when the Ministry was made a proposal to analyse the funding model of higher education. According to the Chairman, the Committee made clear at the time that the funding model must preserve the autonomy of universities and guarantee the means to achieve national priority objectives, and that higher education funding should be increased to 1.5% of gross domestic product. The topics of entry into the profession studied, the development of doctoral studies and the predictions on workforce were also touched upon. “It was also discussed that in order to maintain and improve the quality of higher education, and to ensure the sustainability of funding, it is necessary to reorganise the entire current system of higher education funding, whether it is made up of scholarships, grants or something else,” Must added.

The Chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee noted that although one per cent of the gross domestic product was allocated to research and development, the funding of higher education in Estonia was miserable in international comparison, to put it mildly. Must also mentioned as problems the decrease of attractiveness of the work of a lecturer and the wage trap of free higher education. “If it is necessary to reform the funding, it must be kept in mind that it is not simply free higher education, but it also has to ensure the salary for specialists later,” Must said.

Minister of Education and Research Liina Kersna emphasised that the funding of higher education and the future of higher education in a wider sense continued to need a discussion in society. “Both the efficiency and the quality of higher education studies are important. Besides that, higher education studies have to be sufficiently diversified and flexible and meet the expectations of society, including the expectations of the labour market,” the Minister said.

Kersna pointed out that the principle of funding higher education, which had been in force since 2013, and according to which studying full-time at a university course taught in Estonian is free of charge for students, had ensured that all motivated students had the opportunity to acquire high-quality higher education on equal terms. “More students study on free student place in universities in public law and state institutions of professional higher education than before reform even in the situation where the total number of students has significantly decreased due to demographic changes,” she said. According to the Minister, the higher education system has become more efficient, the number of graduates has increased, the percentage of graduates after nominal period of studies has improved and the institutions of higher education teach more in their areas of responsibility.

The Minister also drew attention to the fact that the expenditure on higher education as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) had dropped from 1.4% to one per cent. She stressed that in international comparison, the Estonian public sector expenditure on higher education as a share of GDP and per student is the lowest among countries comparable to us. At the same time, the parties of the Education Agreement have pointed out that 1.5% of GDP should be allocated to higher education; in that case, higher education lacks around 100 million euro.

In Kersna’s opinion, there are basically three possible ways for acquiring additional funding for higher education in Estonia. First she discussed continuing with the model where the state continued to cover most of the study expenses in higher education, but the students would pay a tuition fee of, for example, 100 euro per month. She thinks that such a system would provide more equal opportunities for students from different backgrounds and make them to think about their decisions more thoroughly; at the same time, the motivation to graduate faster would increase. Entry into universities would probably somewhat decrease, the students should be provided additional motivation, and part of students, like those receiving needs-based study allowances, should be exempted from the tuition fee.

According to the Minister, in the second option the students would have to cover a significantly larger amount, which may differ by fields of study, but on the estimated average, would be around 3000 euro per year. Kersna thinks that the efficiency of higher education would increase as a result, and students who have made an informed choice would enter the universities and have a higher motivation to graduate on time. At the same time, such a system would reduce access to higher education, expenses on support systems would grow and the flow of students to universities abroad would increase.

The third way for attracting private funding would be access to free higher education on the basis of prior academic results, the Minister said. She pointed out that such a system had been in force in Estonia until 2013, but already in 2007, the OECD experts had recommended not to use this system. Although certain higher education institutions could earn additional money in certain specialities, the system would cause worsening of access to higher education.

In the Minister’s opinion, specifying the criteria for free higher education could enable to attract more private funding to the system. “First, it is possible to restrict the possibilities for free studies at the same level of higher education. Second, restricting the so-called time for rethinking should be considered. It is also reasonable not to allow simultaneous studying at several university courses or in several universities,” Kersna said. She also thinks that wider possibilities for part-time study should be considered and foreign students should be requested to pay tuition fee, establishing a higher fee for citizens of third countries. In conclusion the Minister of Education and Research said that the higher education institutions could make better use of the idea that full-time study should be free, but those who wish to pursue part-time studies could be asked to pay tuition fee.

“Nothing more or less than the future of Estonian democracy depends on viable Estonian-language higher education,” Member of the Board of Universities Estonia, Professor Toomas Asser said. “Higher education is a means for raising the level of education of the population, and it is a guarantee for an intelligent society. It is also an important part of shaping of social and health sectors, supporting regional development, it is a part of internal security and certainly helps achieve social cohesion in a wider sense,” he underlined. “Higher education that relies on research, which is the only way we should envision higher education, is an absolute guarantee of knowledge-based world view.”

Asser pointed out that 3500 academic positions in the Estonian universities were filled with people whose knowledge and readiness to teach define the content and quality of our higher education. “What a schoolteacher can do, what a doctor, a nurse and an engineer can do all depends on these lecturers and researchers. What the living environment and public services in the country and in town will be like in the future, it all depends on our higher education,” he said.

The professor also pointed out that the work of lecturers was not highly valued. “As a rector of a university, I and also my good colleagues find it difficult to explain why teaching the teachers is of lesser value than teaching pupils, why teaching is valued less than any other option for people with a doctoral degree. Why the basic salary of half of the lecturers with a doctor’s degree is lower than ten euro per hour, or lower by a quarter than eight euro and 30 cents – it is actually impossible to explain that,” Asser said.

In his opinion, it is important to understand that the government of Estonia manages and finances higher education and research separately. “The fact that both activities are mainly the responsibility of universities does not mean that a university can mix these resources according to its own discretion and ignoring the rules imposed by the government,” the Professor said. Therefore Asser thinks that it cannot be expected that the agreement on funding of research and development would solve the problems of higher education.

“We have been said that the underfunding of higher education cannot be seen anywhere else than in the words of the universities. It has been said that the rise of the universities in university rankings, the good performance of graduates and the increase in research funding show that the situation cannot be that bad,” Asser said. “If we wait until the problem of funding of higher education can be seen in falling in the rankings, then much damage has already been done when that moment arrives. By then, it will have eroded the new generation and the current level of our research.”

In her speech, Head of the Higher Education Support Group of the Riigikogu Margit Sutrop referred to the report of the Higher Education Support Group of the Riigikogu, which gives an overview of the views on higher education among society and the labour market, the higher education institutions, the leaders of higher education and the bodies exercising supervision.

She underlined that the sustainability of the Estonian language and culture, Estonia’s global competitiveness and the future of the statehood of Estonia depended on the quality of the Estonian higher education. “Unfortunately, the future of the statehood of Estonia, and not only higher education, is threatened by the years-lung underfunding of the sphere of higher education. It is unambiguously clear to everybody, including the employers, the lecturers, the students and the leaders of education, that it is impossible to continue in the old way,” she said.

According to her, several problems need to be solved at the same time – ensuring adequate funding for higher education; guaranteeing equal learning opportunities for all those who are able, regardless of their budget, home language or place of residence; providing the labour market with the specialists it needs; guaranteeing the quality of higher education, and ensuring the sustainability of Estonian-language education.

According to Sutrop, acquiring high-quality higher education has two preconditions, which unfortunately are not met. These are the students’ adequate income for free studies and allocating of adequate resources to universities. She noted that due to the current system of study loans and study allowances, which did not ensure sufficient income for students, the students worked more than before. In Sutrop’s opinion, other shortcomings are the small salary of lecturers and the lack of specialists with higher education in vital positions.

“As a result of the free higher education reform that entered into force in 2013/2014, the state took upon itself the obligation to maintain the higher education institutions, which it has not been able to meet,” the Chair of the Support Group said. She pointed out that during the first three years after the entry into force of the reform, the government compensated the universities the private funding they no longer received, but since 2017, the funding of higher education institutions had been practically frozen. At the same time, there are restrictions to involving private funding.

“If the state does not guarantee sustainable funding for higher education and at the same time forbids to ask tuition fee from students studying full-time at the Estonian language study programmes, the higher education institutions start to restrict access, reduce the number of student places, open English language study programmes where it is possible to charge tuition fee, or make allowances in quality. The current funding model almost forces universities to transfer to the English-language studies, thus threatening the future of the Estonian language and culture,” she said.

In Sutrop’s opinion, it is necessary that the political parties reached an agreement or whether to continue with free higher education or to transfer, at least partially, to paid higher education. “If we continue with free higher education, the contribution of the state has to be significantly increased,” she said. “If the government cannot find that money, the higher education institutions should be given more freedom in creating flexible studying opportunities, let it be paid part-time Master’s degree programmes or microdegrees, and for involving private funding in various ways.”

“If we agree on transfer to even partially paid higher education, then it is necessary to create a system that enables to nudge, by writing off study loans and by payment of grants, young people to study specialities the labour market needs,” Sutrop said. She thinks that in order to ensure equal access to higher education, the system of needs-based study allowances should be reviewed so that it would enable everybody to go to the university and study there without working at the same time.

During the debate, Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party), Aadu Must (Centre Party), Jaak Valge (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), Mihhail Lotman (Isamaa), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Siim Kallas (Reform Party), Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa), Riina Sikkut (Social Democratic Party) and Margit Sutrop (Reform Party) took the floor.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Photos (Erik Peinar, Riigikogu)

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
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Riigikogu Press Service
Liisa Johanna Lukk
Phone: +372 631 6456, +372 5331 0789
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Link uudisele: The Riigikogu discussed the role, quality and bases for funding of higher education

Minister of Culture Anneli Ott stated that, although social integration had been consistent, and there was more understanding in society, and people of different nationalities had a strong national identity, there was still a lot of language-based separation and consequent inequality. In the opinion of the minister, inequality and a lack of a sense of unity may however bring about a polarisation of society and increase the probability of value conflicts between people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

In the minister’s words, over the coming years, the adaptation and integration policy is intended to support local governments who will have the opportunity and capacity to contribute more to integration. Ott emphasised that it was necessary to shape a common, understandable and reliable communication space, and the digital transition was inevitable. At the same time, it is necessary to facilitate the establishment of contacts fostering the sense of solidarity and to ensure an opportunity for people to improve their Estonian language skills. “This way we will be more likely to achieve a more cohesive and stable society,” Ott said. “This will be an Estonia where people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds carry Estonian identity, participate actively in social life, share democratic values and a common cultural, information and communication space, and equal opportunities for successful independent living and wellbeing have been created for them.

In the opinion of the Minister of Culture, the civil society is the key issue; its influence must be strengthened, at the same time also supporting the development of NGOs. “The civil society is one of the mainstays of a cohesive and inclusive society. It is a pledge of the sustainability and security of a country,” Ott said. In the minister’s words, communities are not engaged and empowered systematically and on a daily basis in local governments. Therefore it is planned to implement a co-creation development programme directed at local governments and communities, and on the basis of its results, a model for co-creation of communities will be drawn up.

The minister also drew attention to the problem of the small proportion of permanent donors in Estonian society and called for looking for ways to promote donating.

The minister considered the promotion and upholding of Estonian identity abroad one of the important tasks for the next decade. She noted that the Estonians living abroad were part of the cohesive Estonian society regardless of their location. In order that they would not lose contact with Estonia, it is necessary to continue to communicate with the Estonian community abroad and to involve them systemically. “It is important that the people living abroad maintain their Estonian identity, feel the support of our country and get an opportunity to participate in the life of Estonian society. Only then can they help promote our country and reinforce its good reputation, thereby contributing to ensuring the Estonian economy and security,” Ott noted.

She added that big steps needed to be taken to facilitate the return of Estonians to their native country. “For smoother return and adaptation to life in Estonia, we will ensure services supporting the return, we will consolidate the knowledge about the people who return, and we will increase awareness of society. We will involve more local governments and improve their capability in supporting the people who return,” Ott said.

The minister also highlighted the digital transition as a key topic of the development plan. She said that the heart of the Estonian electronic governance was smart population accounting that supported a cohesive society as well as undoubtedly all other sectors of national life. In the words of the Minister of Culture, the software of the population register is outdated and does not allow for the creation and development of up-to-date services, nor do the current data collection procedures ensure the quality of data that would meet the users’ expectations. She noted that the development plan was intended to keep pace with technological development, to take account of the changing needs and habits of people, and to simplify procedures for everyone. As the most tangible change for the citizen, the minister pointed out the plan to create more proactive government services where, in the case of a life event, a person can conduct their affairs with the state in a once-only communication and mostly automatically. For example, when submitting a marriage application, it will be possible to apply for new identity documents, or when using the online service relating to the birth of a child, the birth will be registered immediately.

Member of the Cultural Affairs Committee Signe Kivi gave an overview of the discussion that had been held at the joint sitting of the Cultural Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee.

During the debate, Jüri Jaanson (Reform Party), Jaak Valge (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Marko Šorin (Centre Party), Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Paul Puustusmaa (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

A Bill was dropped from the proceedings of the Riigikogu

The Bill on Amendments to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Act (393 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits, was intended to ensure that the appointment of the acknowledged experts in the field of activity of the Estonian Public Broadcasting to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council would be more independent of political procedure.

The Bill would have amended the regulation of the appointment of the acknowledged experts in the field of activity of the Estonian Public Broadcasting to the Council. Under the current Act, the Riigikogu appoints experts to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council on the proposal of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu. The Bill proposed to establish a system where the authorities, institutions or representative organisations specified in the Act, such as Universities Estonia, the Association of Journalists, the Employers’ Confederation and the Bar Association, appoint members to the Council.

According to the Bill, the procedure for the appointment of the members of the Council who are members of the Riigikogu would have remained unchanged – the Riigikogu appoints a representative from each faction of the Riigikogu.

During the debate, Mihhail Stalnuhhin (Centre Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party) took the floor.

The Cultural Affairs Committee as the lead committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 64 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion, 12 voted against and there was one abstention. Thus, the Bill was rejected and it was dropped from the proceedings.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Liisa Johanna Lukk
Phone: +372 631 6456, +372 5331 0789
E-mail: liisajohanna.lukk@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu discussed the Cohesive Estonia Development Plan until 2030