At the Riigikogu sitting today, the National Library of Estonia Bill passed the first reading, Minister of Rural Affairs Urmas Kruuse made a report on the implementation of the long-term national development strategy “Estonia 2035”, and Minister of Education and Research Liina Kersna replied to the interpellation concerning the effects of the underfunding of higher education.

The Minister of Rural Affairs Urmas Kruuse made a report on the implementation of the long-term national development strategy “Estonia 2035” (challenges of the Estonian food and rural policy in the changing economic and security environment) from the point of view of 2022, focusing on issues of food security.

Kruuse observed that the world was no longer the same as before 24 February of this year. Food security is now seen as equal to security in general.

The “Estonia 2035” strategy identifies security and safety as a developmental need, and importance is given to ensuring security in every situation and improving crisis preparedness.

“The last year was significant in that the term “food security” entered our consciousness much more forcefully. The consciousness of politicians and statesmen, the press, and the society. This is important,” Kruuse said. He noted that we have seen the importance of food security both during the corona crisis as well as during the event that is on everyone’s mind today – the Kremlin’s aggression in Ukraine. “The government was already working on food security before the war in Ukraine, and a Bill on crisis preparedness is under way, with food supply security set on an equal footing with power and gas supply, communications and banking services as vital services, and the actors in this field are viewed as providers of vital services,” the Minister affirmed.

An issue that has risen to the forefront is the availability and increasing prices of the inputs necessary for keeping up production. In the current security situation and in the conditions of sanctions and bans, the supply of fertilisers, feeds, and fuels is decreasing, and the price rise has already reached both the household consumers as well as food producers. The drastic price hike in energy carriers has hit many grain and animal farmers. “However, it is clear that we are currently dealing with a temporary market shock. It takes a bit of time until new supply chains are fully functional and the national economic measures to alleviate shock start to have an impact,” Kruuse described the situation.

In the current situation of war, Kruuse feels it is crucial to preserve the maximum food production capability from the aspect of food security, and producers should not feel forced to go out of business during this year because of high price of inputs. “To ensure food security, the government is planning to start stockpiling grain, and both our government and the EU are in the process of drafting direct crisis assistance measures,” the Minister said.

Kruuse pointed out that similarly to comprehensive national defence, Estonia’s food security is not only up to hardworking farmers or national leaders. “The ball is actually in the court of the consumer, and especially the conscious consumer who can show their preference for high-quality Estonian pork by supporting the sector which has been hit hard by crises, to give an example. By supporting Estonian production, we can also strengthen the sectors where we are not yet covering our own demand 100 percent. While every one of us can make a voluntary contribution to national defence, by joining the Defence League for example, to support food defence league we only need to step up to the right counter in the store. I believe that if we fail to ensure food security, and along with it safeguard our living environment and human health, the security of the whole country as such is built on sand,” Kruuse warned.

During the debate, Merry Aart (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Aivar Viidik (Reform Party), Aivar Kokk (Isamaa), Ivar Padar (Social Democratic Party), and Tarmo Tamm (Centre Party) took the floor.

The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of one Bill

The National Library of Estonia Bill (559 SE), initiated by the Government, transfers the tasks of the Estonian Repository Library to the National Library. As the responsibilities of the Repository Library are similar and partially overlap those of the National Library, its activities as a separate authority will be terminated.

The merging of the services creates the conditions for a user-oriented innovation and cohesive development and fills in gaps in library services. The change will help to improve the access of readers with visual impairment or suffering from other difficulties in reading printed text to publications and digital information, which are currently less accessible because of the separation of services. The newly renovated building of the National Library will also include rooms for the library for the blind, and accessibility will be improved.

The physical merging of the authorities is not likely to take place before 2025, which is the planned completion date of the renovated National Library building. The repository and exchange collections of the Repository Library will be transferred to the Repository Archive, and the services of the library for the blind will be provided in the renovated Tõnismäe premises of the National Library.

During the debate, Ivi Eenmaa (Reform Party) and Tarmo Kruusimäe (Isamaa) took the floor.

The Riigikogu heard the reply to one interpellation.

The Minister of Education and Research Liina Kersna replied to the interpellation concerning the effects of the underfunding of higher education.

During the open microphone, Tarmo Kruusimäe took the floor.

The sitting ended at 6.45 p.m.

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
Gunnar Paal
+372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
[email protected]
Questions: [email protected]