The Riigikogu deliberated four drafts and heard the replies to four interpellations.

The Riigikogu concluded the second reading of three Bills

The Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (740 SE), initiated by the Economic Affairs Committee, will give an opportunity for local government authorities and the authorities administered by them to buy electricity from a seller of electricity at the price regulated by the Competition Authority, that is, as a universal service until 30 April 2026.

In order to use the universal service, the authority will need to enter into a new public contract with the seller of the universal service. In the case of premature termination of an existing contract, the contractual penalty that was agreed upon when the contract was entered into will have to be paid where necessary. During the second reading, the plan to establish a capacity limit of 1 GWh per year for the authorities administered by local governments was cancelled.

The Riigikogu has already earlier established a universal service regulation for household consumers and micro and small businesses, sole proprietors, non-profit organisations, foundations, and persons who mediate electricity to consumers of the universal service.

During the debate, Taavi Aas (Centre Party) and Riho Breivel (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The main purpose of the Bill on Amendments to the Rescue Act and Other Acts (678 SE), initiated by the Government, is to increase internal security and safety. The amendments proposed in the Bill concern mainly explosive ordnance disposal and fire safety and the role of the Emergency Response Centre in the development of the services of the authority and in the ensurance of the quality of services. The Rescue Board will be able to involve volunteers with the necessary knowledge and skills in explosive ordnance disposal in order to ensure the consistency of explosive ordnance disposal for the resolution of resource-intensive events and crises. About 20 assistant explosive ordnance disposal technicians will be involved in a year and the requirements for professional qualification will be established for them. The Bill will give the Emergency Response Centre the right to use the contact details of the persons entered in the database of emergency notifications and help and information notifications in order to obtain feedback from the person who has called or has sent an SMS message to the emergency services as to whether he or she is satisfied with the service provided to him or her. Fire safety amendments are for the most part connected with the regulation for the disclosure of the data on the maintenance of heating systems and for water points. The Bill will also give the Rescue Board the right to use a person’s contact details entered in the rescue information system with his or her consent in order to send notifications relating to the activities of the Rescue Board, for example, the day of the next chimney sweep and the use of water from fire water points.

During the debate, Heljo Pikhof (Social Democratic Party) and Kalle Grünthal (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The Bill on Amendments to the Public Holidays and Days of National Importance Act and the Estonian Flag Act (635 SE), initiated by the Government, will make the Estonian Literature Day a day of national importance and a flag flying day. It will be celebrated on the anniversary of the birth of Estonian author Anton Hansen Tammsaare on 30 January. The aim of the new day of national importance will be to pay attention to the role of Estonian literature and writers in the Estonian culture and society and to encourage people to read more literature in Estonian.

As another amendment, according to the Bill, the days on which the Song Celebration, the Dance Celebration and the Youth Song and Dance Celebration take place will be declared flag flying days as well in order to show the national extent and meaning of the Song and Dance Celebration movement, to pay homage to all those who have been upholding the tradition of the Song and Dance Celebration over 150 years and to acknowledge those who are carrying on the tradition. On flag flying days, state and local government agencies and legal persons in public law hoist the Estonian flag.

During the debate, Toomas Jürgenstein (Social Democratic Party) and Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

A draft Resolution did not find support in the Riigikogu

The Riigikogu did not support the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to take measures to remove the monuments justifying the conquering policy of Russian military forces” (588 OE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, which was intended to make a proposal to the Government to create the legal bases that would enable to relocate from the public space the memorials relating to the justification and glorification of, gratitude for or heroization of the actions of the Soviet army which occupied Estonia, and to remove such memorials from the public space.

During the debate, Toomas Jürgenstein (Social Democratic Party) and Paul Puustusmaa (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

15 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution and one was against. The Resolution was not passed, because the support of at least 51 members of the Riigikogu was needed for the Resolution to be passed. The draft Resolution was dropped from the legislative proceedings.

The Riigikogu heard the replies to four interpellations

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas replied to three interpellations submitted by members of the Riigikogu. They were the following: the interpellation concerning a new TV house of the Estonian Public Broadcasting, the interpellation concerning the livelihoods of people without health insurance, and the interpellation concerning the situation with the registered immovable at 50 Neeme Street, Tallinn.

The Minister of Health and Labour Peep Peterson replied to the interpellation concerning the measures to reduce treatment waiting lists.

During the open microphone, Tarmo Kruusimäe and Mihhail Stalnuhhin took the floor.

The sitting ended at 7.00 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]