The Riigikogu banned the sale of heated tobacco products with a characterising flavour
The Riigikogu passed the Act based on a European Union directive according to which heated tobacco products with a characterising flavour may no longer be sold as of 31 January 2026.
The Act on Amendments to the Tobacco Act (223 SE), initiated by the Government, includes in the Tobacco Act the term “heated tobacco product” and the requirements for the contents, labelling, and packaging thereof. Under the directive, the exemption for allowing characterising flavours and for the labelling of packages that is currently in place for heated tobacco products will be withdrawn across the EU.
In addition, penalties are established for infringement of the requirements for informing of tobacco products and products which are related to tobacco products. Under the Act, failure to inform of a product is punishable by a fine in an amount of up to 300 fine units, and by a fine of up to EUR 32,000 if the act is committed by a legal person.
During the proceedings, the Riigikogu made an amendment to the Bill as a result of which the Act covers all tobacco products and their parts, regardless of the technology used. The volume of the refill capsule for tobacco products was also limited. In addition, in the future, six months before the planned placing on the market of a novel tobacco product, an economic operator importing tobacco products or devices for the use thereof into Estonia or manufacturing tobacco products in Estonia will have to submit to the Health Board a notification in electronic form containing a detailed description and the instructions for use of the devices for the use of the product.
Riina Sikkut took the floor behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.
68 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and seven were against. There was one abstention.
The Riigikogu passed the Act directed at the elimination of discrimination against women
The Riigikogu approved the Act on the Accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Approval of an Amendment to article 20, paragraph 1 of the Convention (583 SE), initiated by the Government, according to which Estonia accedes to the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Accession to the Optional Protocol enables individuals and organisations to submit communications concerning violations of the rights set forth in the Convention to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In the event of systematic violations of women’s rights, the Committee can initiate inquiries on its own initiative and provide recommendations to the States parties to ensure the rights set forth in the Convention and to improve the situation.
Estonia acceded to the Convention in 1991. As of November last year, the Convention had 189 states parties, and it is one of the UN human rights conventions with the largest number of state parties. As of last year, 115 countries had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol, which entered into force in 2000.
Stig Rästa from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Reili Rand from the Social Democratic Party Group and Õnne Pillak from the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group, as well as non-attached Members of the Riigikogu Peeter Ernits and Kalle Grünthal took the floor during the debate.
75 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act.
The Riigikogu appointed new members to the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia
The Riigikogu passed the Resolution on the appointment of members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia who are members of the Riigikogu (629 OE), submitted by the Finance Committee. Members of the Riigikogu Tarmo Tamm and Mart Võrklaev are appointed as members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia.
Members of the Board Andres Sutt and Igor Taro became members of the Government and therefore their mandates as members of the Riigikogu were suspended.
The Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia is the oversight body of the Bank of Estonia which consists of a Chairman, representatives of the parliamentary groups of the Riigikogu and specialists in the field. The principle is that each parliamentary group nominates one of its members and the Chairman of the Board nominates four specialists in the field.
Members of the Riigikogu Aivar Kokk, Lauri Laats, Rene Kokk and Ester Karuse and specialists Ivi Proos, Krista Jaakson, Karin Jõeveer and Toomas Tamsar are also members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia. Urmas Varblane is the Chairman of the Board.
In the secret ballot, 61 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Resolution and one was against.
Four Bills passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Municipal Council Election Act and the Churches and Congregations Act (544 SE) , initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, postpones the deadlines for the formation of electoral districts for this year’s municipal council elections, taking into account the constitutional amendment adopted in March this year.
The parliament introduced an amendment into the Bill, according to which, as an exception, this year electoral districts will be formed by 11 August at the latest and local councils will distribute mandates between electoral districts on the basis of the number of voters according to the population register as of 15 July. Typically, electoral districts are formed no later than the 90th day before election day and mandates are distributed based on the situation as of 1 June.
Another amendment was made to the Bill amending the Act concerning elections which provided that Estonian and EU citizens and stateless residents who are at least 16 years old and whose permanent place of residence is in the respective rural municipality or city would be able participate in the local elections to be held in October this year, and after this year’s elections, only Estonian and EU citizens would have the right to vote. Earlier, the right to participate in local elections extended to third-country nationals who resided in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or the permanent right of residence, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens.
The motion to amend arises from a constitutional amendment adopted by the Riigikogu at the end of March and coming into force in July this year, according to which, this year, the right to vote in local elections is revoked for third-country nationals residing in Estonia and, from the next elections after the coming elections, for stateless persons as well. The amendment brings the provisions regulating the right to vote in the Act concerning elections into line with the Constitution.
In addition, the parliament supported the proposal to amend, in the interests of legal clarity, the Churches and Congregations Act, which until now linked the right to be a minister of religion with the right to vote in local elections. The purpose of the amendment introduced into the bill is to avoid the interpretation that the amendments to the Constitution could lead to some ministers of religion being deprived of their rights as ministers of religion. While the Act currently provides that a person who has the right to vote in local elections can be a minister of religion of a religious association, according to the new wording, an adult person with active legal capacity who has a legal basis to stay in Estonia can be minister of religion.
Juku-Kalle Raid from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Vadim Belobrovtsev from the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The Act on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (555 SE), initiated by the Government, creates a regulation for island operation capability which will enable the maintenance of the required amount of electricity generation capacity from 2026 in order to ensure the stability of the Estonian electricity system. The service of ensuring island operation capability will ensure Estonia’s ability to manage independently in a situation where the country is isolated from the electricity system of the Baltic countries or continental Europe.
The system operator, i.e. the transmission system operator Elering, will analyse and assesses whether there is enough generating capacity available at any given time to manage in a situation of island operation. According to the explanatory memorandum, Elering has estimated that the minimum need for controllable capacities in the Estonian electricity system is about 1,000 MW.
In order to ensure the service of ensuring island operation capability, Elering will carry out a technology-neutral public procurement, the main condition of which will be that the generation undertaking must be able to provide generation capacity for ten consecutive days. According to the explanatory memorandum, the estimated cost of procuring the service of ensuring island operation capability will be in the order of EUR 34 million per year.
In addition, the Bill will amend the rules for participation in demand response and for electricity storage in order to transpose a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council. According to the Bill, provisions will be included in the Act to reduce the costs of operating electricity storage by eliminating double taxation, to specify the legal framework for demand response and the requirements for electricity bills and to introduce the principle of net metering during the trading period in the case of final customers.
Urmas Reinsalu and Andres Metsoja from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Mario Kadastik and Yoko Alender from the Estonian Reform Party Group, Lauri Laats from the Estonian Centre Party Group and Lauri Läänemets from the Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, as well as non-attached Members of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal and Jaak Aab took the floor during the debate.
Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. 16 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of the motion and 47 were against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading was concluded.
The Bill on Amendments to the Act on Protection of Persons Who Report Work-Related Breaches of European Union Law and the International Sanctions Act (Union restrictive measures directive) (584 SE), initiated by the Government, will transpose into Estonian law the EU directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of sanctions. According to an amendment, violation of Union restrictive measures is considered a predicate offence for money laundering under the directive.
The Bill will make two amendments to Estonian law. EU restrictive measures will be included in the list of areas of activity provided for in the Act on Protection of Persons Who Report Work-Related Breaches of European Union Law and the International Sanctions Act will be specified by adding a clause to the effect that the provisions on whistleblower protection also extend to reporting breaches of international sanctions.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish uniform rules for determining violations of EU restrictive measures and the penalties to be imposed for them, in order to ensure uniform application of sanctions. According to the explanatory memorandum, this will help to detect and prevent violations, supporting compliance with EU law and the achievement of objectives.
Mart Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. Nine members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 52 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.
Under the Bill on Amendments to the Emergency Act (589 SE), initiated by the Government, a provider of an essential service whose data or equipment essential for the operation of the service are located in a foreign country must ensure connection through at least two technologically different electronic communications services in order to reduce the risk of interruptions and ensure continuity of the service.
The Bill will also provide that, in the future, instead of the Information System Authority, the authority organising the continuity of a service will exercise supervision over the information systems of a critical entity that is located in a foreign country within the framework of the supervision exercised over critical entities.
Vladimir Arhipov from the Estonian Centre Party Group took the floor during the debate.
A Bill passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Health Services Organisation Act (patient’s advance healthcare directive) (604 SE), initiated by the Government, will create the opportunity for people to opt out of life-prolonging healthcare services.
Under the Bill, the right to draw up an advance healthcare directive will be given to adults with active legal capacity and capacity to exercise their will, as well as people with limited active legal capacity if a doctor considers them competent to make decisions about their health. Mandatory consultation with a doctor will ensure that the decision is thoroughly considered. The person can amend or withdraw their advance directive later if they wish. An advance directive will be submitted digitally in the health information system, exceptionally also on paper if the person is not digitally competent. In such a case, a health care professional will enter the data.
According to the Bill, a person can specify in their advance directive which healthcare services they want at the end of their life or which they prohibit from being provided. In an advance directive, a person can opt out of all life-prolonging healthcare services, such as resuscitation, artificial respiration, tube feeding, dialysis, antibiotic treatment, chemotherapy, and surgery. The opting out will be linked to the onset of a medical condition described in the person’s advance directive which will be recorded by a doctor and will be a prerequisite for implementing the directive. It will not be possible to request euthanasia or assisted suicide by an advance directive.
The Act is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2027 to ensure sufficient time for IT developments to be completed, doctors to be trained and the public to be informed.
During the debate, Margit Sutrop took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Group, Irja Lutsar on behalf of Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Riina Solman on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Riina Sikkut on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Group.
After the sitting, it is planned to form the Intermarium Support Group on the initiative of Anti Poolamets.
The sitting ended at 7.09 p.m.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
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Questions: [email protected]
