The Riigikogu passed with 81 votes in favour the Act on the Implementation of the European Parliament and the Council Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 on a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) (204 SE), initiated by the Government. The objective of the Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006, adopted on 5 July 2006, is to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and/or interregional cooperation between Member States, with the aim of strengthening economic and social cohesion. The Regulation enables creation of cooperative groupings in Community territory, invested with legal personality, called “European groupings of territorial cooperation”, in order to overcome the obstacles hindering territorial cooperation. Nobody voted against the Act and nobody abstained.

The Act on Amendments to the Structural Assistance for the Period of 2004-2006 Act and the Structural Assistance for the Period of 2007-2013 Act (266 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 80 votes in favour. The amendments revise the Structural Assistance Acts in regard to the deficiencies which have emerged upon implementation of the Acts which could not be foreseen during the preparation of the Acts. The most important amendment in the Structural Assistance for the Period of 2004-2006 Act is allowing of extension of deadline for implementation of projects in justified cases. Both the Structural Assistance for the Period of 2004-2006 Act and the Structural Assistance for the Period of 2007-2013 Act provide additional regulation of the reclamation of assistance as regards the cases in which the extent of damage cannot be clearly assessed and the part of the assistance subject to refunding is determined as a percentage of the assistance allocated. In addition, the mechanisms of the compulsory execution procedure for claiming of assistance to be refunded are provided. The provisions relating to payment of assistance on the basis of unpaid expense receipts are also brought to the level of law because in their current form they are restrictive and do not apply to all final recipients. The rules applicable to the cross border cooperation programmes implemented within the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument are also specified. The Act enters into force on the day following the date of publication in the Riigi Teataja. Nobody voted against the Act and nobody abstained.

The Draft Resolution “Preparation of Forestry Development Plan and Submission to the Riigikogu” (243 OE), submitted by the Estonian People’s Union Faction, was not passed at the final voting. 45 members of the Riigikogu voted against the Resolution and 33 voted in favour, nobody abstained.

On the motion of the Finance Committee as the leading committee, the Bill on Amendments to § 15 of the Value Added Tax Act (224 SE), initiated by the Estonian Centre Party Faction, was rejected at the first reading. 42 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 26 voted against, nobody abstained. Thus, the Bill was withdrawn from the legislative proceeding.

The Riigikogu Press Service