Today the Riigikogu passed three Acts. They will enable the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment to decide the funding of yet another cultural construction work of national importance, facilitate third-country nationals taking up highly qualified employment, and denounce the agreement on legal assistance between Estonia and Russia.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act and the Gambling Tax Act (338 SE), initiated by the Cultural Affairs Committee. It will enable the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment to decide on the proposal of the Minister of Culture and with the consent of the Cultural Affairs Committee the funding of yet another cultural construction work of national importance where this does not affect the completion of the facilities that are already on the shortlist.

According to the Act, the cultural construction works selected will have to be facilities of national importance that fulfil the strategic objectives of the cultural sector and that are significant in terms of national culture. When a building included in the list is completed, it will be permitted to select the next cultural construction work to be supported only after all disbursements towards the previous facility have been made. The Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment will have to submit once a year a written report to the Riigikogu on the funding of the cultural construction works and the state of construction.

The Act is also intended to support the livelihoods of freelance creative people by guaranteeing them social guarantees. For this purpose, the benefit for creative work paid by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia is turned into remuneration for creative work. Thus, the Cultural Endowment will also be able to pay remuneration for creative work in the future. At the same time, grants will not be eliminated or taxed. Remuneration for creative work will be formalised as an authorisation agreement which will guarantee the recipient of the remuneration health insurance premiums, pension insurance premiums and unemployment insurance premiums. The remuneration provided for creative work will be divided by the number of months of the creative period and will be disbursed every month so that freelance creative people would get permanent income and social protection.

The Riigikogu passed the Resolution on the approval of the shortlist for the establishment and renovation of cultural construction works of national importance on 13 September 2021 and a shortlist including five facilities was approved: Tartu City Cultural Centre, Narva Kreenholm Cultural Quarter “Manufactory“, Arvo Pärt Music House in Rakvere, an extension to the current building of the Estonian National Opera of Tallinn, and Tallinn film industry hub.

On 23 November last year, the Riigikogu approved an Act that enables to support the completion of several cultural construction works of national importance at the same time, instead of two as is the case at present, where the supporting of the cultural construction work next on the shortlist does not affect the completion of a facility higher up the list and the Cultural Endowment has the readiness to begin to also support the cultural construction work higher up the list.

During the debate, Heljo Pikhof from the Social Democratic Party Group, Signe Kivi from the Reform Party Group and Tõnis Lukas from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor.

54 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and one voted against it.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Aliens Act (European Union Blue Card) (349 SE),  initiated by the Government. It transposes into Estonian legal space the updated Blue Card Directive which has been amended to attract highly qualified workers from third countries to the European Union and to keep them employed, in particular in sectors where Member States are facing skills shortages in global competition.

The purpose of the new rules is to harmonise the conditions of entry and residence of highly qualified workers from third countries and to increase the attractiveness of the EU Blue Card. Member States will be able to maintain their national schemes concerning highly qualified workers in parallel with the EU Blue Card system. At the same time, the new rules will introduce a number of provisions to ensure that Blue Card holders and their family members would not find themselves in a more disadvantaged situation than holders of national permits.

The amendments specify among other things the definition of higher professional qualifications and the educational requirements that EU Blue Card holders must meet in terms of their education. They also regulate the higher professional skills which are considered equivalent to the knowledge, skills and competence attested by higher education qualifications for the purpose of applying for a Blue Card.

According to the Act, the person will need to have entered into an employment contract for at least six months instead of the current one year to apply for a Blue Card. Currently, a card holder can be unemployed once for up to three months during the period of validity of their Blue Card. In the future, they can be unemployed for a total of up to three months if they have held a Blue Card for less than two years, and for a total of up to six months if they have held a Blue Card for at least two years. The amendments also specify the conditions for mobility for EU Blue Card holders and establish more favourable conditions for family reunification.

Before the second reading, the Constitutional Committee made an amendment arising from the directive to the Bill concerning the change of employer by Blue Card holders. If a card holder has worked in a Member State for less than a year and changes employer, the state has the right to carry out a check of the labour market situation, that is, whether it is possible to fill the relevant vacancy with residents of the Member State or EU citizens. After a year has passed, the Member State may require only that a change of employer be communicated, and no check of the labour market situation may be carried out. Under the earlier directive, a check could be carried out for up to two years.

In addition to the transposition of the directive, the amendments specify the definition of growth company. At present, only a company registered in Estonia that complies with the conditions provided for in the Act is a growth company. However, according to an amendment, in the future, a branch of a foreign company registered in Estonia may also be a growth company.

53 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 8 were against it.

The Riigikogu also passed the Act on the Denunciation of the Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters (362 SE), initiated by the Government. It denounces the agreement on legal assistance between Estonia and Russia signed in Moscow in 1993 and entered into force in 1995. The denunciation is motivated by the ongoing military aggression by Russia against Ukraine.

The agreement on legal assistance between Estonia and Russia extends automatically by five years. In order to denounce the agreement, the other party must be notified thereof at least six months before the end of the five-year period. The current five-year period is due to end on 18 March 2025 and thus a note on denunciation must be forwarded to Russia before 18 September.

During the debate, Valdo Randpere from the Reform Party Group, Kalev Stoicescu Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group and Eduard Odinets from the Social Democratic Party Group took the floor.

52 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act.

A Bill passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Estonian Defence League Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (335 SE), initiated by the Government,  passed the second reading in the Riigikogu. It will update the legal regulation related to the Estonian Defence League. The Bill will make the functioning of the central bodies of the Defence League more flexible and will create an opportunity to respond more operationally to the needs of increased defence readiness, a state of war, an emergency situation, a state of emergency, mobilisation, and demobilisation.

The Bill will allow active members of the Defence League to store more ammunition at home with a view to increasing response capability. At present, the amount of the ammunition that an active member is permitted to acquire and store together with a weapon depends on the purpose of the weapon and in the absence of other purposes they are permitted to store 200 cartridges together with a weapon and up to 5000 cartridges for use in shooting sports. According to the Bill, an active member of the Defence League will be permitted to store 5,000 cartridges per weapon together with a weapon or 10,000 cartridges per place of storage, and the amount of propellant contained in cartridges may not exceed 50 kg.

At the same time, stricter requirements will be established for places of storage and the supervision thereof. In addition, under the Bill, if an owner of a weapon wishes to participate in national defence with a weapon, they will have an obligation to apply for the notation concerning national defence provided for in the Weapons Act.

The Bill will give the guards of the Estonian Defence League and persons participating in guarding the right to use electric shock weapons. This will enable to respond more safely in places where the use of a firearm may be dangerous to other people present, for example indoors. The Bill will also allow active members of the Defence League to use, when performing their duties, personal weapons that have been entered in the Register of Service and Civilian Weapons as hunting firearms. In addition, the Bill will simplify the checking of compliance with health requirements for members of the Defence League.

A Bill passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Atmospheric Air Protection Act (393 SE), initiated by the Environment Committee,  passed the first reading in the Riigikogu. It will provide in the Act legal clarity in terms of the target value of environmental noise and will eliminate the problems that have arisen in the implementation. The amendment will contribute to the planning of new buildings in densely populated areas.

The Act will be specified with the aim of reducing the environmental impact involved in urban sprawl and enabling a healthy living environment for urban residents. The amendment will affect in particular real estate developers and their cooperation with local governments as the bodies who organise the drafting of spatial plans and with the Health Board as the body who approves spatial plans. At the same time, the Bill will resolve the problem that the Chancellor of Justice has referred to where it is not unambiguously clear from the Atmospheric Air Protection Act in what cases the target value of noise must be applied. However, this may determine whether dwelling houses or buildings containing both business premises and dwellings can be planned to be built in some places.

According to the data of European Environment Agency, in Estonia, more than 300,000 people are affected by high levels of environmental noise. According to the explanatory memorandum, observance of the target values of noise will help ensure that the health risks of Estonian inhabitants due to noise are minimised in spatial planning.

During the debate, Tiit Maran from the Social Democratic Party Group, Evelin Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Aivar Kokk Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading, but the plenary did not support the motion. 11 members of the Riigikogu supported a rejection and 52 were against.

Three drafts were dropped from the proceedings

The Riigikogu rejected the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to improve teachers’ working conditions” (373 OE), submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It was intended to make a proposal to the Government to draft, by 1 May, legislative acts that would ensure that teachers’ salary would reach 120 per cent of the average salary in Estonia as agreed upon in the coalition agreement. The draft Resolution was also intended to make a proposal to establish from 2025 a four-tier career model for teachers that would be connected with pay rise as well as workload calculation and additional duties.

Tõnis Lukas from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

At the final vote, 21 members of the Riigikogu supported the draft Resolution and there was one abstention. A majority of the votes of the membership of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for the Resolution to be passed.

The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Riigikogu Election Act, the Municipal Council Election Act and the European Parliament Election Act (292 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group. It was intended to repeal the option of online voting, that is, to terminate online elections in Estonia.

Mart Helme from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor during the debate.

38 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Constitutional Committee to reject the Bill and 11 were against it.

The Riigikogu also rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Status of Members of the Riigikogu Act (339 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group. It was intended to end reimbursement of work-related expenses to members of the Riigikogu. Under the current Act, work-related expenses are reimbursed to members of the Riigikogu on the basis of expense receipts to the extent of up to 30 percent of the salary of the member of the Riigikogu.

During the debate, Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Group and Rene Kokk from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group took the floor.

32 members of the Riigikogu supported the motion of the Constitutional Committee to reject the Bill and 9 voted against it.

The first reading of  the Bill on Amendments to the Security Authorities Act (330 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, and the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to reduce the rates of principal fee  that depend on the amount of enforceable claim for enforcement agents“ (273 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was cancelled at today’s sitting due to the absence of the presenter.

The sitting ended at 6.43 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]