The Riigikogu passed two Acts and a Resolution:

The Supplementary Budget of the Year 2007 (121 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 76 votes in favour (1 abstention). The revenue of the supplementary budget is 6.2 billion and the expenditure is 2.7 billion kroons. The surplus of 3.5 billion kroons of the supplementary budget will be appointed to the reserves.

The Bill on Amendments to the Farm Animals Breeding Act (94 SE), initiated by the Government, which specifies the criteria of farm animal breeds and the principles of preserving of endangered farm animal breeds, and brings the Act into conformity with the European Union legislation, was passed with 75 votes in favour. The number of breeds is steadily decreasing on the world level because cross-breeding with universally popular commercial breeds overshadows numerous local breeds for economic reasons. The Act was elaborated on the example of relevant legislation of the Czech Republic, Finland and Slovenia, the requirements for the protection of endangered breeds in England, as well as the Strategy for Conservation of Genetic Resources in the Nordic Countries.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Approval of the Consolidated Report of the Economic Year of 2006 of the State” (120 OE), submitted by the Government, was passed with 67 votes in favour.

The Riigikogu concluded the second reading of four Bills:

The Bill on Amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Misdemeanour Procedure (106 SE and 74 SE), initiated by the Government. The consolidated Bill establishes the necessary amendments to the Penal Code which enables Estonia to impose punishments for violations relating to marine pollution caused by ships. The Bill also aims at prevention of the situation in which souvenir euros are illegally coined and used instead of euro coins.

The Bill on Amendments to the Insurance Activities Act, the Financial Supervision Authority Act and the Personal Data Protection Act (118 SE), initiated by the Government, which introduces amendments deriving from the Reinsurance Directive into the Insurance Activities Act and the Financial Supervision Authority Act currently in force. The Insurance Activities Act is also amended due to the necessity to transpose the article concerning insurance in the directive regulating equal treatment of men and women in the provision of goods and services. In addition to the amendments arising from the directive, the Bill proposes amendments regarding the definition of customer in the Insurance Activities Act and provides certain specifications of processing of personal data.

The Bill on Amendments to the State Family Benefits Act (136 SE), initiated by the Government, with the aim of supporting the children who are raised in foster families and thereby enhancing the possibilities for children without parental care to be raised in families. Pursuant to the Bill, the amount of the benefit paid to foster families is raised to 3000 kroons which makes it equal to the actual costs at a children’s home, so as to enable children who have been left without parental care to be raised in families.

The Bill on Amendments to the Holidays Act (145 SE), initiated by the Government, which provides the possibility for a father to use the holiday of ten working days during his wife’s maternity leave or within two months following the birth of the child.

The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of two Bills:

The Bill on Amendments to the State Fees Act, the Land Valuation Act and the Land Cadastre Act (154 SE), initiated by the Government, with the main objective of bringing the regulations concerning visa fees and exemption from fees for visa applications as provided in the State Fees Act into conformity with the European Union law which is going to become obligatory for Estonia upon accession to the Schengen common visa area in December 2007. Another objective of the Bill is the establishing of the fees charged for Land Board acts in the State Fees Act and introducing of the obligation of payment of the fee into the Acts specifically regulating the performance of the acts, as well as simplification and enhancing the transparency of the calculation of the state fee charged for issuing of copies or extracts from the transactions database.

The Advertising Act Bill (135 SE), initiated by the Government. In comparison to the Advertising Act currently in force, the Bill sets out tightened requirements for alcohol advertisement. So, after the entry into force of this Bill, an alcohol advertisement must contain a warning text: “Attention! This is alcohol. Alcohol may damage your health.” The initiator pointed out that it was for the most part the Bill which had been in the legislative proceeding in the previous composition of the Riigikogu and which had been withdrawn from the legislative proceeding due to termination of the authority of the composition of the Riigikogu.

At Question Time, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip answered questions about proprietary obligations of the state, the European Union Reform Treaty information campaign, a rise in excise duties and prices, and subsistence. The Minister of the Environment Jaanus Tamkivi answered questions about waste management, the Elistvere Animal Park and the biosphere protection area.

The Riigikogu Press Service