The Riigikogu supported accession to the UN Protocol expanding the rights of children
At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu made a statement in support of the People of Georgia and supported Estonia’s accession to the protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child expanding the rights of children.
The Riigikogu adopted the Act on the Accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure (534 SE), initiated by the Government. According to it, Estonia accedes to the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which enables the promotion and protection of the rights of children where domestic remedies have been exhausted.
The accession to the protocol gives Estonian children the right to submit complaints for violations of their rights to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and gives the Committee the right to process such communications. The Committee can also initiate inquiries in the case of grave and systematic violations of children’s rights.
The Protocol sets out the competences of the Committee, the communications procedure and interim protection measures. Communications may be submitted by individuals or groups if rights set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child or in the Optional Protocols thereto have been violated, including in the issues of the sale of children, child prostitution and the involvement of children in armed conflict.
The implementation of the Protocol will take place within the confines of the existing resources of the ministries in charge and with information and the drafting of necessary materials, the costs of which will be covered from the European Social Fund. 52 countries have previously acceded to the optional protocol.
During the debate, Züleyxa Izmailova took the floor behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group. Non-attached Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal also took the floor.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill, but the plenary did not support the motion. 11 members of the Riigikogu voted for the suspension of the deliberation but 54 were against it.
At the final vote, 56 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 10 were against it.
The Riigikogu adopted the Statement of the Riigikogu in Support of the People of Georgia” (564 AE), submitted by 49 Members of the Riigikogu. It calls on the global community to take specific steps to defend and support of the legitimate President, the civil society and the pro-democracy protesters of Georgia.
The statement declares that Estonia respects the right of each country to democratically choose their path in organising their society and entering into allied relations with other countries, and that in line with this principle, Estonia has supported the development of Georgia through close cooperation and has spoken out against the actions of the Russian Federation that threaten Georgia’s sovereignty and undermine its territorial integrity.
“Over the past decade, Estonia has followed the influencing activities of the Russian Federation in polarising the Georgian society and interfering with the democratic elections in Georgia with growing concern,” the Statement says, pointing out that the results of the Georgian parliamentary elections, which took place in last October in an atmosphere of violence and intimidation, do not express the free will of the Georgian people. “The governing party Georgian Dream, which enjoys the support of the Russian Federation, is using the fraudulent election results to achieve complete control over state institutions and repress the opposition and the civil society.”
According to the Statement, the Riigikogu does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the parliament and the government of Georgia that were formed after the parliamentary elections that took place in an atmosphere of rigging and intimidation of citizens, as well as the legitimacy of the appointed President; instead, it recognises Salome Zourabichvili as the legitimate President and supports her efforts to put an end to the constitutional crisis in the country.
The Riigikogu expresses its support to the democratic forces in Georgia who are demanding new parliamentary elections that are inevitable for resolving the constitutional crisis and restoring democracy, condemns the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations with the support of advancing Russian imperialism, and calls on ending any use of violence or persecution, as well as on liberating all political prisoners. The Riigikogu also calls on other national parliaments to condemn the violent actions of the governing regime in Georgia.
According to the Statement, the Riigikogu urges the European Commission and the Member States of the European Union to impose sanctions on the Georgian politicians and officials involved in the violent repression of peaceful protests and in persecuting the people standing for the Georgian civil society. The Statement also calls on severely restricting communications with the institutions of the government of Georgia until free and fair elections have taken place, and on supporting the representatives of the Georgian civil society and the still surviving free media who are continuing to work in the name of a free society, despite intimidation and persecution.
“The Riigikogu expresses its solidarity with the Georgian nation who is defending its human rights, Constitution, democracy, and the future of Georgia within the European Union,” the Statement says.
Ando Kiviberg from Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Varro Vooglaid from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group, Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Marko Mihkelson from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate. Ester Karuse took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group.
59 members of the Riigikogu supported the adoption of the Statement and nine were against it.
A Bill passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Estonian Academy of Sciences Act (514 SE), initiated by the Cultural Affairs Committee, passed the second reading in the Riigikogu. Its purpose is to update and simplify the Act and to eliminate several procedural restrictions on the academy’s internal decision-making processes.
The Bill will repeal obsolete provisions, omit from the Act the provisions describing the internal structure and decision-making processes of the Academy in too much detail, and bring the terminology of the Act in line with commonly used terms.
The principle of the autonomy of academic institutions, as enshrined in the Constitution, will be more clearly defined in the Bill and the organisation of the internal structure of the academy will be left to the academy’s discretion. Thus, the conditions will be created for more operational performance of the academy’s tasks and mission.
Four Bills passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Family Benefits Act and Other Acts (547 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading in the Riigikogu. It will create a new unified benefit system for children who have lost a parent.
According to the Bill, from 1 October 2026, the survivor’s pension will be replaced with the survivor’s benefit, which will guarantee a monthly benefit to children who have lost a parent, regardless of the pension qualifying period or the number of children of the deceased parent. The purpose of the benefit to be established is to compensate for the costs of bringing up a child – partially in the event of the loss of a parent and fully in the event of the loss of both parents.
The amount of the survivor’s benefit will be uniform for children and will take into account the cost of maintaining the child and its real value will be preserved over time through indexation. According to the bill, the new base amount of the benefit will be EUR 272, and according to forecasts, the benefit to be paid out will reach approximately EUR 345 in 2026.
The survivor’s benefit will be paid until the child reaches the age of 19 or, if the child continues their studies, until the age of 21. Under the Bill, the circle of educational establishments that will allow receiving the benefit will be wider than for the survivor’s pension, and it will also be possible to receive the survivor’s benefit at the same time as the work ability allowance.
Tanel Kiik took the floor behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group in the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Maritime Safety Act and Other Acts (549 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will update the regulations related to the operation of the Estonian State Fleet which began work in July 2023, including the pilotage service. Among other things, the Bill will allow the State Fleet to offer new paid services to the private sector.
The Bill will also provide for the basis for the establishment of a register of bunker suppliers in the Estonian Maritime Document Exchange and the requirements for the operation thereof. It will also increase the rates of the fines for violation of maritime safety requirements which, according to the explanatory memorandum, have remained unchanged for nearly 20 years.
The Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (555 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will create 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 should be isolated from the Baltic or continental European electricity system.
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 a constant generation capacity for 10 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.
Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Group took the floor during the debate.
The Bill on Amendments to the Electricity Market Act (556 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the first reading. It will change the concept of the charge for connection to the network. Under the Bill, half of the connection costs of the producers who wish to connect to the existing electricity network will be covered by electricity consumers and the other half by those connecting to the network, and a fixed price list will be established separately.
According to the explanatory memorandum to the Bill, this will allow potential producers and consumers to better predict their costs relating to connecting to the electricity network. In places where there is no existing electricity network, the cost-reflective connection charge will continue to apply.
Second, the Bill will expand the scope of the development obligation for Elering, as well as for other electricity network operators, which will allow, in particular, investments to be made in the transmission network in order to meet the renewable electricity target set by the Estonian state for 2030.
In order to facilitate optimal network use, the bill will specify the provisions relating to the application of the network under-utilisation charge and will allow, in certain cases, for modifications to a previously requested electricity generation technology if this leads to a more efficient use of the electricity network.
Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Mario Kadastik from the Reform Party Group took the floor during the debate. Jaak Aab took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group.
Two Bills were dropped from legislative proceedings
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on the Repeal of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (538 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It was intended to repeal the Motor Vehicle Tax Act that entered into force on 1 January because in the opinion of initiators the motor vehicle tax worsened the economic security of Estonian people and the competitiveness of companies.
Siim Pohlak from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Urmas Reinsalu from Isamaa Parliamentary Group, Lauri Laats from the Centre Party Group and Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.
The Finance Committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 51 members of the Riigikogu supported the rejection and 28 voted against.
The Riigikogu also rejected the Bill on Amendments to the Value-Added Tax Act (539 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group. It was intended to lower the VAT rate on foodstuffs from 22 per cent to five per cent in order to curb the rise in foodstuff prices. The Bill would also have lowered the VAT rate for press publications to five per cent from the current nine per cent.
Aleksandr Tšaplõgin from the Centre Party Group, Rene Kokk from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Anti Haugas from the Reform Party Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate. Andres Hanimägi took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group.
53 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Finance Committee to reject the Bill at the first reading and 17 were against it.
The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to § 5 of the Local Government Council Election Act (530 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Leo Kunnas, was cancelled at today’s sitting due to the absence of the presenter.
The sitting ended at 9.24 p.m.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
[email protected]
Questions: [email protected]
