The Riigikogu deliberated three Bill at its sitting today.

Two Bills passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Water Act (709 SE), initiated by the Government, will transpose the EU directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption. The purpose of the Bill is to reduce the risks to health and environment related to the supply of drinking water, to optimise the costs of handling drinking water and to ensure safe drinking water to inhabitants. Another purpose of the amendments is to increase consumers’ confidence in tap water, to reduce the manufacture of plastic and waste generation and thereby to protect the environment.

The Bill will introduce a risk assessment-based approach to the water supply chain. It will also improve people’s access to drinking water and the related information and lay down the requirements for materials that come into contact with drinking water and for water treatment chemicals as well as for reducing water leakages. Obligations will be provided for drinking water suppliers, owners of public premises, local governments, the Health Board, the Environmental Board, and the Ministry of the Environment.

The Bill on Amendments to the Release into Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms Act (744 SE), initiated by the Government, will bring the Act into conformity with the European Union regulation that aims to ensure increased transparency and to provide citizens and scientists access to all information concerning food safety that the business operator has submitted during the risk assessment process, except for information that can be classified as confidential business information.

With a view to improving transparency, all EU regulations and directives on food, feed and genetically modified organisms have been reviewed and the data that can be classified as confidential business information have been harmonised in the regulation. Earlier, data that may be or must not be confidential business information were listed in various laws and regulations. In the future, only data that can be classified as confidential business information will be listed in all laws and regulations relating to food and genetically modified organisms. The same amendments will also need to be made in Estonian legislation.

While the current Act lists the information that must not be classified as confidential business information, the Bill establishes a list of data that can be classified as confidential business information. So the amount of information that can be classified as confidential business information will become more limited and defined. This will increase transparency because all information that is not considered confidential business information will be available to the public. The Bill will also include in the Act the requirement that, where international standard data formats exist, data will have to be submitted| in accordance with such data formats in an application. This will simplify the comparison of various data and thus the assessment of applications will take less time. The need to inquire additional information from applicants will also decrease.

A Bill passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the State Pension Insurance Act (739 SE), initiated by the Centre Party Faction, is intended to establish an extraordinary pension increase of 50 euro for 2024–2027.

The Bill will amend the version of the State Pension Insurance Act due to enter into force on 1 January 2024 so that pensions will be increased through the base amount and an extraordinary increase in the rate of national pension. The extraordinary pension increase of 50 euro for is planned for 1 January of the years 2024–2027, that is, for four consecutive years.

During the debate, Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Aivar Kokk (Isamaa), Tõnis Mölder (Centre Party) and Helmen Kütt (Social Democratic Party) took the floor.

During the open microphone, Kalle Grünthal and Tarmo Kruusimäe took the floor.

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]

 

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