According to the explanatory memorandum of the Resolution, Russia’s influence activities in Estonia are part of a broader strategy that seeks to weaken the security and resilience of the Estonian state, targets Estonia’s Russian-speaking population and social cohesion, and spreads narratives that are damaging to the Estonian state and its allies. “The committee will be needed to assess funding chains, identify the potential role of public sector support, analyse the participation of NGOs, individuals and networks, assess the damage to internal security and social cohesion, and make proposals for mitigating risks,” the proposers of the Resolution noted.

According to the Resolution, the committee of investigation will focus on four main topics: the financing of Russia’s influence activities in Estonia, the possible role of the Estonian public sector, the impact of propaganda on Estonia’s population, and the framework of hybrid warfare. Among other things, the committee will have to find out to what extent projects, associations and activities promoting the interests of the Russian Federation have received direct or indirect funding from Estonia’s state agencies, local governments, local government divisions, and companies controlled by them.

The committee will also have to clarify to what extent organizations, associations and individuals operating in Estonia have participated in or been involved in Russia’s influence and divisive activities. According to the amendment made during the proceedings, the committee must also clarify the extent to which companies operating in Estonia have participated in or been involved in Russia’s influence and divisive activities.

The committee’s task will be to provide the Riigikogu with a comprehensive overview of the extent of influence activities and to make proposals for legislative, organizational, and security measures. Together with independent experts, the committee will have to develop proposals on how to prevent and reduce the risks associated with influence and divisive activities, and improve the capacity of authorities to identify threats, as well as make proposals for legal, organizational, and financial changes.

The formation of the committee of investigation will be based on the same principle that has been agreed upon for the establishment of the select committees of the Riigikogu, according to which the coalition and the opposition are equally represented in the committee. The committee will have to submit its final report to the Riigikogu and the public by 1 February 2027 at the latest.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu established a committee of investigation for Russia’s influence activities

At the final vote, 93 members of the Riigikogu submitted the passing of the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (536 SE), initiated by 61 Members of the Riigikogu. Seven members voted against it. A two-thirds majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 68 votes, were needed for the Bill to amend the Constitution to be passed.

Initially the Bill provided that Estonian citizens and stateless residents as well as citizens of the European Union and NATO countries would be allowed to participate in municipal council elections. As a resolution of the plenary, a motion to amend submitted by 55 members of the Riigikogu was included the Act today, according to which the right to vote in local elections will be revoked for third-country nationals residing in Estonia and, from the next elections after the coming elections, stateless persons will also not be allowed to vote in local elections.

Stateless persons will be allowed to vote at this year’s local elections. The presenters of this proposal said that it would give stateless persons sufficient time to apply for Estonian citizenship if they so wish, and to participate in the next local elections as Estonian citizens. The amendment also excluded the right to vote of the citizens of NATO countries.

Citizens of Estonia and the European Union and stateless residents will be allowed to participate in municipal council elections this year, and from the next elections onwards, only the citizens of Estonia and the EU will be able to participate in local elections.

The second motion to amend, which was submitted by 26 members of the Riigikogu, failed to receive necessary support in the plenary assembly. According to this amendment, the right to vote would have been revoked for both the third-country nationals residing in Estonia and for stateless persons starting from the local elections taking place in October this year.

Under the current law, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens, the right to participate in local elections extends also to aliens who reside in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or the permanent right of residence, who have attained 16 years of age by the election day and whose permanent place of residence is located in the corresponding rural municipality or city.

Next municipal council elections in Estonia will take place on 19 October this year.

Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Voting results

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu passed constitutional amendment restricting the right to vote

Members of the Riigikogu submitted two motions to amend to the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution by deadline, and the Committee decided to support both. According to Terras, this means that the plenary of the Riigikogu will have to choose between the motions to amend.

The Bill on Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (536 SE), initiated by 61 Members of the Riigikogu, originally provided that Estonian citizens and stateless residents as well as citizens of European Union and NATO countries would be allowed to participate in municipal council elections. At present, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens, the right to participate in local elections extends to aliens who reside in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or the permanent right of residence, who have attained 16 years of age by the election day and whose permanent place of residence is located in the corresponding rural municipality or city.

According to one motion to amend, which was submitted by 55 members of the Riigikogu, the right to vote in local elections would be revoked for third-country nationals residing in Estonia and, from the next elections onwards, stateless persons would not be allowed to vote in local elections as well. Stateless persons would be allowed to vote at this year’s local elections. The presenters of this proposal said that it would give stateless persons sufficient time to apply for Estonian citizenship if they so wish and to participate in the next local elections as Estonian citizens.

According to the second motion to amend, which was submitted by 26 members of the Riigikogu, the right to vote would be revoked from this year’s local elections for both the third-country nationals residing in Estonia and for stateless persons. As a result of the amendment, only the citizens of Estonia and the EU countries would be able to participate in local elections.

At the third reading of the Bill to amend the Constitution in the plenary of the Riigikogu, a representative of the Constitutional Committee will deliver a report, and after the questions and answers session, a debate will be held where the representatives of parliamentary groups can take the floor. Then, the submitted motions to amend will be reviewed, and the method of amending the Constitution will be decided. In order to adopt the resolution to consider the Bill to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency, a four-fifths majority of the Riigikogu is required. This means that at least four times as many members of the Riigikogu must vote in favour of amending the Constitution as a matter of urgency than against it.

If the method of amending the Constitution receives the required majority of votes, the Riigikogu will decide to pass the Bill as an Act. A two-thirds majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 68 votes, will be needed for the Bill to amend the Constitution to be passed.

If none of the two votes – on the method of amending the Constitution, or passing the Bill – receives the required majority of votes, the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution is deemed to have been rejected, and it will be dropped from the proceedings.

The next municipal council elections will take place in Estonia on 19 October this year.

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

Link uudisele: The Constitutional Committee proposes to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency

Chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu Hendrik Johannes Terras said that the creation of a legal regulation for using the frozen assets was a complicated challenge that several allied countries and international organisations were working on, and Estonia had a pioneering role to here. “Russia is an aggressor state, and the burden of compensating the war damage caused by it cannot be left to Ukraine and its allies. Russia is responsible for causing the damages and must bear that responsibility,” he pointed out.

According to Terras, the assets that have already been frozen under international sanctions and which in any case cannot be used or disposed of by their owners can be used to compensate for the damage caused by the war of aggression in Ukraine. “With the Act that was passed today, Estonia is proposing a mechanism that provides for the liability of the people and companies directly involved in or contributing to the aggression,” he said, adding that the Constitutional Committee had been discussing the creation of such a regulation in great detail with various parties, including foreign experts, for more than six months.

The Act on Amendments to the International Sanctions Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (332 SE), initiated by the Government, will create a national mechanism to ensure the financial liability of an aggressor state for the damage caused by the most serious violations of international law. The amendment will enable the use of assets of individuals and companies that have contributed to Russia’s wrongful acts, which have been frozen under sanctions, as an advance payment for damages owed by Russia to Ukraine.

Before the second reading, the Constitutional Committee had incorporated into the Act an amendment according to which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will decide on the use of the assets as an advance payment for compensation for damage in the course of administrative procedure. According to the initial wording, it would have been necessary to apply for authorisation from administrative court to use the assets.

According to the Act, a decision on the use of assets as an advance payment for compensation for damage can be made where damage has been caused by a wrongful act and the damage has been proved and must be compensated for under international law, and the foreign state that has sustained damage has submitted a relevant claim to the foreign state that has caused the damage, and the state that has caused the damage has not met the claim within a reasonable period of time. In order to launch proceedings on the use of assets in Estonia, a relevant request will have to be submitted to Estonia and the conditions for the use of the assets as an advance payment for compensation for damage and for assigning the right of claim to the owner of the assets will have to be agreed upon with the state that has submitted the request. In addition, the link between the owner of the assets and the wrongful act must be sufficiently proven.

The amendment provides that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have to determine all the facts and ownership relations relating to the assets and make sure that there are no exceptional circumstances that would make the individual’s interests outweigh the need to apply the measure. According to the Act, the owner of the assets will have the right to contest the decision on the use of the assets in administrative court.

The amendment to the Act also clarifies the competences of state agencies in the implementation of international sanctions and gives them clearer legal bases for the implementation of sanctions and for supervision.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu passed the Act enabling the use of Russia’s frozen assets

In this Statement, the Riigikogu strongly condemns the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the unlawful annexation of the territory conquered in the course of the aggression, and notes that Putin’s terrorist regime with its threats of nuclear weapon has become the key menace to peace in Europe and the whole world.

“Ever since the Russian Federation launched a full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus has expressed his public support to the act of aggression of the terrorist regime of the Russian Federation. The leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate and Patriarch Kirill are using the Russian World ideology as a tool to promote the war; it is utilised to destroy the last manifestations of Russian democracy, militarise Russian society, and justify the aggression in order to extend the Russian Federation to all the territories dominated by it in the past, including Ukraine,” the Riigikogu says in its Statement.

The Statement evokes the policy document “The present and future of the Russian world” adopted by the World Russian People’s Council, which has been established under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church and is led by the Moscow Patriarch; the document describes the war of aggression in Ukraine as a holy war both against Ukraine and the whole West, and also views a wider expanse of territories than the former Russian empire as part of the sphere of influence of the Russian Federation. “The calls of the Moscow Patriarchate contain an inherent danger to Estonia’s security and survival, including a direct threat to the public and constitutional order in Estonia,” the Estonian parliament says.

The Statement defines Estonia as a democratic state that stands for religious freedom; the state must also ensure everyone’s freedom to choose the religion to follow. “In the world today, the state also needs to protect people from terrorist and other hostile propaganda as well as incitements to violence. Protection from such propaganda also applies to Orthodox residents of Estonia, regardless of their language, ethnicity, or canonical association,” the Riigikogu declares and expresses disgust for the abuse and distortion of the tradition of religion and orthodoxy by the Moscow Patriarchate and the current regime in Moscow. “In light of the actions of the Moscow Patriarchate so far, there is a persistent threat of people being influenced in this pseudo-religious context.”

The Riigikogu affirms its repudiation of the actions of the Moscow Patriarchate as an institution that justifies and supports the aggression of the Russian Federation and feels validated in declaring the Moscow Patriarchate an institution sponsoring Russia’s military aggression. The Riigikogu calls on all states and the international community to suppress the hostile influencing activities of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Riigikogu also emphasises that declaring the Moscow Patriarchate an institution sponsoring Russia’s military aggression concerns the Moscow Patriarchate as an institution and a directing body, not the people who follow the orthodox traditions. “Orthodox associations and congregations should also carry out their own assessment of the threat to public order and to their members caused by the hostile influencing activities, and take the necessary steps to cut the ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Republic of Estonia must preserve the constitutional right to religious freedom, with full consideration for the rights and freedoms of everyone living here,” the Riigikogu declares in its Statement.

• Statement

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Riigikogu declared the Moscow Patriarchate an institution sponsoring Russia’s military aggression

The Committee made seven amendments to the Bill before the second reading, including an amendment setting out the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the body who decides on the use of assets as an advance payment for the damages by administrative procedure. The initial wording had set out the administrative court as the receiver of the applications.

The Bill provides that the decision on the use of assets as an advance payment for the damages must be based on the fact that the unlawful act has caused provable damage, which must be compensated for under international law, and that the foreign state who has sustained the damage has submitted a relevant request to the foreign state which has caused the damage, but the latter has failed to meet the request within a reasonable term. In order to launch the proceedings on the use of the assets in Estonia, a relevant request must be submitted to Estonia and the conditions for the use of the assets as an advance payment of damages and for assigning the right of claim to the owner of the assets must have been agreed on with the requesting state. In addition, the link between the owner of the assets and the unlawful act must be sufficiently proven.

Under the amendments to the Bill, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must determine all the facts relating to the assets and their ownership status, and make sure that there are no special circumstances that would set the individual’s interests above the need to apply this measure. The owner of the assets would have the right to contest the decision in administrative court.

The Bill was initiated by the Government and passed the first reading in the Riigikogu in mid-November. Before sending the Bill to the second reading, the Constitutional Committee discussed the introduction of a relevant regulation and its importance with national law and banking experts, foreign policy experts, and representatives of the courts.

The Constitutional Committee proposed the second reading of the Bill for next Wednesday, May 8.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Constitutional Committee sent a Bill on using frozen assets to the second reading

For the second reading, the Constitutional Committee had incorporated into the Bill an amendment according to which the National Electoral Committee would retain its right to establish by its resolution the technical requirements for online voting as the organisation of online voting may change over time. According to an amendment, the National Electoral Committee will establish by its resolution the electronic identification schemes to be used to identify voters. It will create the possibility for voters to identify themselves by Smart-ID in the future. At present, a secure computer with Internet connection, and an ID-card with valid certificates together with a reader, or mobile ID are needed to vote online.

The committee also made an amendment to the Bill to clearly provide for the option of using m-voting in elections in the future. According to an amendment, the National Electoral Committee will assess the suitability of technical solutions before each election and will define by its resolution the operating systems to be used. The Bill will specify that a voter application will be established in particular for more common operating systems and an individual verification application will be established for mobile device operating systems. According to the Bill, a voter application may be established for the latter as well.

The amendments allowing for the use of Smart-ID as well as m-voting are planned to enter into force in October this year. Thus, these options cannot yet be used in the European Parliament elections at the beginning of this June.

In addition, the Bill will specify the tasks and responsibility of the State Electoral Office in the development and management of the information systems relating to elections. The role of the Information System Authority will also be provided for in the Act. According to the Bill, the electoral office will also have the right to involve other competent authorities and persons in the organisation of the development, management and hosting of the election information system and online voting system and in the ensuring of cyber security of such information systems.

During the debate, Mart Maastik, Helir-Valdor Seeder and Aivar Kokk from  Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Jaak Valge, Ants Frosch, Kert Kingo, Mart Helme, Helle-Moonika Helme, Henn Põlluaas, Martin Helme, Evelin Poolamets, Leo Kunnas, Anti Poolamets, Arvo Aller, Siim Pohlak and Alar Laneman from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Lauri Laats, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart and Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Centre Party Group, Hendrik Johannes Terras from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Mario Kadastik from the Reform Party Group took the floor. Unaffiliated Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal also made a speech at the debate.

After the debate, the plenary began to review the 96 amendments entered on the list of motions to amend. In the beginning, ten-minute recesses were taken before votings. However, after seven amendments had been voted on, the Council of Elders consisting of members of the Board and chairmen of parliamentary groups convened to discuss the situation. However, they failed to reach an agreement on stopping taking recesses. Thereafter the Board of the Riigikogu also discussed the matter.

Vice-President of the Riigikogu Toomas Kivimägi explained at the sitting that the purpose of the recess granted before a voting was in particular to give members of the Riigikogu an opportunity to coordinate their positions with regard to the voting. “In this case, however, recesses are being taken to hinder the deliberation of an agenda item and thereby the work of the Riigikogu, that is, for the purpose of obstruction,” he said.

According to Kivimägi, two out of three members of the Board had found that, in order to ensure efficient functioning of the Riigikogu, in reviewing the motions to amend the Bill that was being discussed, it was necessary not to allow parliamentary groups to take recesses before voting on the motions to amend. Since there was no unanimity in the Board, the matter was put to a vote in the Riigikogu. In the plenary, 54 members of the Riigikogu supported stopping taking recesses and 19 were against it. Thus, the motion was supported. After the vote, the Riigikogu reviewed all the remaining motions to amend the Bill that had been submitted.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Isamaa Parliamentary group and the Centre Party Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill, but the motion was not supported. 19 members of the Riigikogu voted for suspension, but 47 were against it.

Two Bills passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Information Society Services Act, the Copyright Act and the Taxation Act (390 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading in the Riigikogu. Its purpose is to ensure implementation of the European Union Digital Services Act Regulation and to better counter the spread of illegal content online, to protect the freedom of speech and of information of users of digital services and to harmonise the requirements applicable to digital services in the EU’s internal market.

The Digital Services Act Regulation imposes strict obligations on very large online platforms and search engines with over 45 million users in the EU. Every year, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Amazon and Booking.com must assess the risks of their services in terms of dissemination of illegal content, fundamental rights, the protection of public health, and public security, and put in place measures to mitigate risks.

The Regulation will make the activities of online platforms more transparent when it comes to content moderation and making related decisions. For example, users will have the right to be informed when their published content is removed or access to it is disabled. At the same time, online platforms must indicate in a comprehensible way in their terms and conditions on what bases and how they moderate content. The information obtained allows users to contest such decisions and to protect their rights.

In Estonia, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority will exercise supervision over intermediary service providers in order to ensure the rights of users and transparency of digital services. The Authority will be able to participate in cross-border joint procedures and in the exercise of supervision over very large service providers to protect Estonian users. Among other things, the Authority will be able to assess whether the measures taken by very large service providers are sufficient to mitigate the potential risks the services offered by them present to public security in Estonia.

The Bill on Amendments to the Health Services Organisation Act and Other Acts (401 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the first reading. It will allow family physicians to also service people who are not on their practice list and will make the division of work in primary health care more flexible. Under the Bill, the Estonian Health Insurance Fund will also have the possibility to assign people who are on a list that no longer has a family physician to another list that is not full and that has a service area corresponding to their place of residence.

At the same time, the Bill will create the possibility to authorise the marketing of a medicine without a marketing authorisation in the case of a definite diagnosis in order to ensure uninterrupted availability in Estonia of a medicine significant in terms of human or animal health. In addition, in the interests of legal clarity, family medical care will be introduced into the Act as a new definition instead of general medical care and the definition of health centre will be employed which will give family medical centres an opportunity to carry greater regional responsibility.

Liisa Pakosta from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

Two drafts were dropped from legislative proceedings

The Riigikogu rejected the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to submit to the Riigikogu an action plan for the development of power generation capacities and power grids to ensure energy security in Estonia” (383 OE), submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. The draft Resolution proposed that the Government submit an action plan by 1 May as to the generation capacities the state wished to promote and the sources thereof, and the role of storage, distributed generation, and consumption management to ensure Estonia’s energy security, security of electricity supply, a competitive price level for businesses and an affordable price for household consumers.

At the final vote, five members of the Riigikogu were in favour of the draft Resolution, one was against and there was one abstention. 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 State Assets Act and the Land Cadastre Act (380 SE),  initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It was intended to regulate the specifications for the transfer of national defence land by the state. According to the amendments, persons who buy from the state a registered immovable with the intended purpose of national defence land at a public auction would have been able to be released from any prior detailed spatial plan as well as the intended purpose of national defence land in order to apply for a new relevant intended purpose for the registered immovable they acquire.

35 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Economic Affairs Committee to reject the Bill at the first reading and two voted against it.

The first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic on the establishment of a temporary solidarity tax for the banking sector” (367 OE), submitted by the Centre Party Group, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to find a solution to the establishment of an annex to the Estonian National Opera” (410 OE), submitted by the Cultural Affairs Committee, the Bill on Amendments to the Security Authorities Act (330 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, and the Bill on Amendments to the Police and Border Guard Act (370 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal, was cancelled at today’s sitting due to the absence of the presenters.

The sitting ended at 11.36 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video can be viewed 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 concluded the second reading of the Bill allowing m-voting

The public sitting will be held in the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and will be live streamed online with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian or in English. The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on  the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

The Bill that would allow the use of Russia’s frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine and better implement the sanctions against Russia was initiated by the Government and passed its first reading in the Riigikogu in mid-November. Before sending the Bill to the second reading, the Constitutional Committee has repeatedly discussed the introduction of such a regulation and its importance with banking experts, Estonian foreign policy experts and representatives of the courts. Next week, experts in constitutional law will participate in the discussion.

The Bill on Amendments to the International Sanctions Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (332 SE) will create a national mechanism to ensure the financial liability of the aggressor state for damage caused by the most serious violations of international law. The amendment will enable the use of assets of individuals and companies that have contributed to Russia’s illegal acts as an advance payment for damages owed by Russia to Ukraine. The Bill also specifies the competences of state agencies in the implementation of international sanctions and provides them with a clearer legal basis for the implementation and monitoring of sanctions.

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

Link uudisele: The Constitutional Committee will discuss using of Russia’s frozen assets with foreign experts

The Act preserves the current regulation on the submission of the declarations of interests of the heads of the Internal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service but provides that, differently to the current law, their declarations of interest are not public.

Eduard Odinets took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Faction in the debate.

72 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Act on Amendments to the Anti-corruption Act (compliance with GRECO’s recommendations and restriction on the public availability of the declarations of interests of heads of security authorities) (323 SE), initiated by the Government, and 17 voted against. There was one abstention.

The Riigikogu passed another Act

The Act on Amendments to the Financial Supervision Authority Act and Other Acts (326 SE), initiated by the Government, brings Estonian law into conformity with directives on the business of insurance and reinsurance, as well as markets in financial instruments and the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing.

88 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Act.

A Bill passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Atmospheric Air Protection Act (345 SE), initiated by the Government, will update references to the European Commission Regulations that implement the European Union system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

The European Commission has established new Regulations implementing the European Union system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading (EU ETS). The EU has also issued an implementing Regulation on the Modernisation Fund. Their aim is to enhance cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments. The Regulations provide for the details of the operation of the EU ETS for the fourth trading period in the years 2021–2030.

According to the Bill, the allocation of emission allowances free of charge will be made more flexible for operators. This will reduce administrative burden, as operators will be able to submit the reports on the basis of which emissions are adjusted together with emissions reports by 25 March. The regular adjustment of emissions every year ensures fairer allocation of emissions.

The Bill will determine the distribution of the use of the resources of the Modernisation Fund and the ministers responsible for the use of the resources in the state budget strategy. With the measures decided in the budget strategy it is possible to direct the resources of the Modernisation Fund to sectors that are important to the state in order to achieve climate and energy policy objectives. This also enables to establish uniform bases for all applicants to invest in particular sectors in the case of each measure. Through different measures, it is possible to support the implementation of projects of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage and the modernisation of energy networks, as well as a just transition to a low-carbon economy in regions that rely on a high-carbon economy, for example in Ida-Viru County. It is also possible to support the development of energy efficiency in transport, buildings, agriculture and waste with various measures from the resources of the Modernisation Fund.

Under the Effort Sharing Regulation, Estonia has mandatory annual greenhouse gas emission reduction target levels for 2021–2030 in the transport, agriculture, waste management, industrial processes and small-scale energy generation sectors. In order to ensure the achievement of targets, Member States are allowed to trade among themselves emission allowances created under the Regulation. Thus, the Bill sets out the principles of emissions trading in the sectors of the Effort Sharing Regulation and the conditions of and the procedure for the organisation of trading, sales and purchase contacts and the use of the funds received from trading, and the obligations of applicants.

The Riigikogu did not pass a Resolution

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic” (317 OE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction, was intended to make a proposal to the Government of the Republic to prepare an analysis by 1 May and, on the basis of that, to submit proposals to the Riigikogu for reducing the impact and wasting of money in the European Parliament elections, municipal council elections, the Riigikogu elections and referendums, including to set an upper limit on election expenditure and the volume of election advertising.

During the debate, Lauri Läänemets took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Faction and Oudekki Loone on behalf of the Centre Party Faction.

20 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 26 voted against. Thus, the draft Resolution was not supported.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording of the sitting will be available 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 Riigikogu extended the range of officials who have the obligation to submit a declaration of interests

Link uudisele: The Constitutional Committee elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman