At today’s plenary sitting, the Riigikogu concluded the first reading of the Bill which proposes amendments aiming to ensure that servicemen and police officers who have fulfilled their duty to the state are treated uniformly and equally in pension schemes so that it would be in conformity with the principle of legitimate expectation.

The Bill on Amendments to the Military Service Act Implementation Act and the Police and Border Guard Act (667 SE), initiated by 34 members of the Riigikogu, is intended to amend Acts which in their today’s version concern servicemen who retired before 1 April 2013 and police officers who retired before 1 January 2010, as well as the principles of legal certainty and legitimate expectations of the former servicemen who had acquired an entitlement to a pension by that time.

In the opinion the authors of the Bill, the current situation is unfair and unconstitutional, because, among all persons who receive old-age pensions under favourable conditions in Estonia at present, the servicemen who terminated their service before 1 April 2013 are the only ones for whom the base level of the pension before the transition from the recalculation system to indexing is the salary level that had been lowered in connection with the economic crisis.

The Bill was initiated by members of the Riigikogu Raivo Aeg, Ants Laaneots, Tarmo Kruusimäe, Priit Sibul, Maire Aunaste, Uno Kaskpeit, Arno Sild, Raivo Põldaru, Henn Põlluaas, Martin Helme, Andres Metsoja, Ain Lutsepp, Krista Aru, Artur Talvik, Enn Meri, Jaanus Karilaid, Dmitri Dmitrijev, Mart Helme, Madis Milling, Meelis Mälberg, Peep Aru, Toomas Väinaste, Helmut Hallemaa, Aivar Kokk, Hardi Volmer, Tiit Terik, Anneli Ott, Märt Sults, Toomas Paur, Enn Eesmaa, Valeri Korb, Toomas Vitsut, Külliki Kübarsepp and Johannes Kert.

Raivo Aeg, who made a report on behalf of the initiators, introduced the aim and content of the Bill.

Uno Kaskpeit, who made a report on behalf of the Legal Affairs Committee, gave an overview of the discussions that had been held at the committee sitting, and pointed out that the committee supported the concluding of the first reading.

Another Bill passed the first reading in the Riigikogu:

The Bill on Amendments to the Social Benefits for Disabled Persons Act (663 SE), initiated by the Estonian Free Party Faction, provides for increasing the benefits for disabled children. It is intended to raise the benefit to the extent that would meet the actual additional expenses arising from the disability of children, as has been pointed out as a recommendation in the shadow report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Bill provides for doubling the social benefits for children with moderate and severe disabilities, and for tripling the benefit for children with profound disabilities.

Maris Lauri from the Reform Party Faction took the floor during the debate.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian) http://stenogrammid.riigikogu.ee/en/201811081000.

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

Riigikogu Press Service
Marie Kukk
+372 631 6456; +372 5821 3309
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