The Riigikogu supported the establishment of a repository of agricultural data

At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu made a statement in support of the State of Israel and its people, made amendments to the membership of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera, and passed a legislative amendment to establish a repository of agricultural data for processing the data relating to agricultural activities.

The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act (341 SE), initiated by the Government. It establishes a repository of agricultural data in order to process the data relating to agricultural activities.

The agricultural data repository is planned as a pilot project, a part of the register of agricultural support and agricultural parcels, the controller of which is the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board. Data concerning agricultural activity that are required to be submitted upon participation in an EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measure will be submitted to the repository. Voluntarily submitted data concerning agricultural activity will also be entered into it.

The establishment of a legal basis for maintaining an agricultural data repository will, among other things, be the basis for providing the electronic field record service in the online service environment of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board and for forwarding data from the service environment to the agricultural data repository. The amendments are necessary to shape agricultural policy, including to plan new support measures, to facilitate sustainable agriculture, for national statistics, and for research.

In addition to the establishment of a new dataset, the Act gives the minister in charge of the policy sector the right to establish, with a Regulation, more specific conditions and procedure for reducing support. Since EU law is very general regarding the reduction of support in the case of this programming period, a need to establish uniform bases for reducing support across CAP measures may arise.

65 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Act and 10 voted against.

The Riigikogu passed the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of a Member of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera” (354 OE), submitted by the Cultural Affairs Committee. With it, Member of the Riigikogu Aleksei Jevgrafov is appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera to replace Ester Karuse. The mandate of Member of the Riigikogu Ester Karuse will terminate prematurely in connection with her resignation from the supervisory board at her own request. Jevgrafov is appointed to the supervisory board for the time that is remaining until the end of the mandate of the member of the supervisory board who is replaced.

The Supervisory Board of the National Opera composed of 11 members is the highest directing body of the national opera. The Riigikogu appoints three of them from among the members of the Riigikogu on the proposal of the Cultural Affairs Committee. The term of the mandate of the members of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera is four years. Members of the Riigikogu Signe Kivi and Kadri Tali are also members of the Supervisory Board of the National Opera under the Resolution that entered into force on 27 May this year.

76 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the Resolution.

The Riigikogu also passed the Statement of the Riigikogu “In Support of the State of Israel and Its People” (355 AE), submitted by 65 members of the Riigikogu, that condemns Hamas terrorist attacks and the war started by Hamas against Israel.

In the Statement, the Riigikogu points out that there can be no justification for the murder of civilians, the taking of hostages and the attacking civilian objects, and underlines that according to the Nuremberg Charter, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances is a crime against peace.

The Riigikogu expresses its condolences to the State of Israel, its people, and the relatives of the victims of the terrorist attack, and acknowledges the efforts made to free the hostages, as a result of which it has been possible to release part of the hostages. The Parliament also affirms that the State of Israel has the right and the duty to defend itself until the end of the Hamas terrorist attacks, the release of all hostages and the capture of the planners and perpetrators of the 7 October massacre, so that terror against Israel and its people would not happen again.

The Parliament of Estonia expresses hope that Israel will achieve rapid success in its military and anti-terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip, and notes that it is of the utmost importance for the future of Israel and peace in the region to avoid civilian casualties in the ongoing operations and to comply with general international humanitarian law. According to the draft, the Riigikogu condemns all acts of violence against civilians, regardless of who committed it and what justifications they give, and calls on the Government of Israel and all parties to the conflict to do all they can to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The Riigikogu also expresses its concern about the anti-Semitic attacks and demonstrations that have taken place in Europe and elsewhere in Estonia’s allied countries, but especially in the Middle East and Russia in recent months, and affirms that Estonia will not tolerate any justification of terrorism, manifestations of anti-Semitism or incitement of hatred on the basis of religion. “The Riigikogu expresses hope that Israel’s military self-defence actions against Hamas will achieve the goal it has repeatedly committed itself to in international treaties: the creation of an environment free of pressure, repressions and violence for peace negotiations between the legitimate representatives of the State of Israel and the Palestinian people,” the Statement says.

78 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Statement.

A Bill passed the first reading

In addition, the Bill on Amendments to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act and the Gambling Tax Act (338 SE), initiated by the Cultural Affairs Committee, passed the first reading in the Riigikogu. 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 Bill, 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. According to the Bill, the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment will have to submit once a year a written report on the funding of cultural construction works and the state of construction.

The Bill 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 will be 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, Jaak Valge from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Tõnis Lukas from Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Heljo Pikhof from the Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Group took the floor.

After the sitting, members of the Riigikogu are planning to form the Environmentally Friendly Food Support Group on the initiative of Member of the Riigikogu Hanah Lahe.

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]