Draft Law Amending the Act on the Government of the Republic (523 SE) – First Reading
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 4th session, plenary session
Date: 2024-12-12 12:27
Total Speeches: 76
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 1h 25m
AI Summaries: 76/76 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The second item on the agenda: the first reading of the draft law amending the State Government Act 523, initiated by the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) fraction of the Centre Party. The presenter was Member of the Riigikogu Lauri Laats. The purpose of the draft law is to increase the transparency of ministers’ representation expenses and to ensure the targeted nature of these expenditures by presenting supporting documents and explaining the content of the expenditures. A comparison was also raised between the expense allowances for Members of the Riigikogu and the government's representation expenses, and some other financial and budgetary considerations were discussed, including potential cuts and solidarity. The debate was broadly guided by the question of how the public can fairly understand for what purposes state money is being used.
Decisions Made 1
Bill 523's first reading is postponed; the bill falls off the agenda.
Most Active Speaker
Most active representative: 5VNfkRwGZMI. He represents the Centre Party faction, is the initiator and main speaker of the draft, and leads the discussion broadly. Political positions scale: other (Centre Party centrist line).
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
We move on to the second item on the agenda: the first reading of the draft law No. 523 to amend the Government of the Republic Act, initiated by the Estonian Centre Party faction; the rapporteur is Riigikogu member Lauri Laats.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats emphasized that the Centre Party faction will submit a draft to ensure the transparency of ministers' representational expenses, because currently no supporting documents are required and a tax-free allowance is paid, and therefore it is necessary that the expenses be earmarked, controllable, and transparent to the public.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Arvo Aller said that you also have questions, and invited Vadim Belobrovtsev to speak.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
They pose the question of why the Riigikogu members' travel allowance system requires explanation and accounting for every cent, while ministers, most of whom are members of the Riigikogu and are merely temporarily in government, do not have this obligation, and whether that is fair.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
They emphasize that the expense reimbursement system must be transparent and accountable for both the legislators and the executive branch, and, in their view, the draft bill is the right step to correct past mistakes, so that ministers' representational expenses are as transparent as those of Riigikogu members.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chair invites Aleksei Jevgrafovi onto the stage, please.
Aleksei Jevgrafov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Aleksei Jevgrafov said that this is unequal treatment: the Riigikogu members' expense allowances are public and anyone can ask where they go, but the government members' representational expenses are completely secret, and he asked how this process is organized in Latvia and Lithuania.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that he really does have an analysis of the Riigikogu members' travel allowances and salary system, giving examples of different models in countries such as Belgium, Germany and Austria, reminded that the bill to bring MPs' salaries in line with their contributions was voted down, and highlighted unequal treatment where parliament members must submit expense documents, while government members do not.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Arvo Aller invites Mart Maastik to take the floor.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Maastik asks whether the Centre Party and he himself would be willing to reduce the salaries of Riigikogu members, based on the opinion of the majority of voters that expense allowances and ministers’ pay scales should be disclosed, and that the salary is too high.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that although the question about MPs' salaries and unpaid work arouses interest, the Centre Party does not engage in populism and focuses on things that matter to people, and making ministers' representational expenses transparent is a small but principled step toward fairness.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman invites Ando Kiviberg.
Ando Kiviberg
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
He made a note about proper language usage and pointed out that using the form “seda eelnõud” is wrong, because in the singular partitive the word “eelnõu” is used.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Arvo Aller asks Vladimir Arhipov to come onto the stage.
Vladimir Arhipov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Vladimir Arhipov sees this as a good initiative and an opportunity to strengthen trust between the government and citizens and to improve expenditure oversight, noting that the local government and the Riigikogu report on every euro cent, and asks how to ensure the proportionality of representational expenses and their alignment with public interests.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats emphasizes that representational expenses are a tool used on a daily basis to secure the voter's voice, and their size depends on the nature of the work, but rankings should not create the impression that higher spending is automatically bad; ministers' expenses are mostly covered through the ministry, and therefore the question arises as to what they use 1,500 euros for, which even those who have expressed the government's position cannot answer.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Arvo Aller asks to grant Vadim Belobrovtsev the floor.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Belobrovtsev describes the Riigikogu's draft bill to reduce expense allowances, which would reduce an ordinary member's salary from 30% to 25%, and discusses whether government members could also cut their representational expenses to demonstrate solidarity.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that the government's decisions may worsen people's ability to cope next year, and the aim of their draft bill is simply to find out where the ministers spend about 1,500 euros every month, rather than to demand a reduction in current representational expenses.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman invited Andrei Korobeiniku to come forward.
Andrei Korobeinik
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Andrei Korobeinik praises the draft bill, but asks whether, in the name of balancing the state budget, it would be worth reducing the Riigikogu leadership's expenses, for example the number of drivers and advisers.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats criticized the government budget, where promised cuts were replaced by tax increases, and consumption taxes already account for 42% of tax revenues, which, in his view, hamper the economy and trade, and he stressed that before any further cuts the expenditures of the Riigikogu leadership should be examined.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-Chairman Arvo Aller invites Priit Lomp to speak.
Priit Lomp
AI Summary
Priit Lomp highlights the issue of imprecision and solidarity and asks about the salaries and participation of Riigikogu members, referring to the evening session in which the Centre faction did not participate, and asks whether salaries are paid on a daily basis regardless of actual attendance.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats states that if the draft is adopted, the problem will be regulated and the representation costs must be made transparent, which will bring about savings, because the ministry has already provided all the necessary tools, and 1500 euros for representation costs is difficult to use.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Arvo Aller invites Mart Maastik to take the floor.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Maastik proposed that members of the Riigikogu would be paid a salary according to their sitting hours, i.e., 'butt-hours', would calculate the real salary and return the surplus to the state treasury, setting an example and making regulation unnecessary, so that every MP could personally adjust their salary according to their working hours.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats praises the proposal, emphasizes cross-faction cooperation, and the need to make the work as transparent and understandable as possible for voters, and calls on all members of parliament to serve the people according to their conscience.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The deputy chairman asks Vladimir Arhipov to come on stage.
Vladimir Arhipov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Vladimir Arhipov criticizes the budget's lack of transparency and unjustified cuts, cites the closure of the Lasnamäe and Maardu police stations as an example, and emphasizes the need to increase the transparency of government members' representational expenses.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The message is a brief invitation: your time has come and you must act.
Vladimir Arhipov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Vladimir Arhipov asks, in your opinion, how this process is going to look.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The report discusses cuts to regional authorities, accuses bureaucracy and IT deficiencies, and emphasizes transparent reporting on ministers' expenditures, and the bill's passage through all three readings.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-Chair Arvo Aller invites Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvarti to speak.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
According to the speaker, despite the ministers' solidarity, the ministers' salary is rising because the indexing has not been fully frozen.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speech simply focused on the word "Just".
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speech emphasizes that what matters is a substantive contribution, and not only the time spent in the session, and raises the question of the transparency of the Riigikogu juhatus's travel allowances: why they are currently hidden and whether they should become more transparent.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The discussion held on measuring a Riigikogu member's work contribution focused on different criteria (registration, hours worked, speeches, presentations, amendment proposals or the submission of draft laws), highlighted the differences between the coalition and the opposition and drew attention to the leadership's representative function and the justification of expenditures, including the need to provide cars and drivers for the chair and the vice-chairs, and noted that the issue of budget cuts should be discussed again if necessary.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Arvo Aller invites Andrei Korobeinik to speak.
Andrei Korobeinik
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
I had a thought that this whole tax orgy might not be caused solely by our very competent government, and if we cut taxes, in the future ministers might be even more incompetent and the situation could get worse; doesn't the length of Estonia's economic downturn point precisely to the lack of competition for ministerial posts?
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats claims that the current government lacks a budget plan that promotes the economy, and a better solution would be the introduction of a bank tax, which neighboring countries already use and which would bring revenue to the budget, not tax increases.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller wishes to stay with this draft bill in his responses, which concerns amending the Government of the Republic Act.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
This speech is fragmentary, and its content lacks clear information, therefore it is not possible to provide a precise one-sentence summary.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-Chairman Arvo Aller said that in his response he tries to reflect the amendment to the law and invited Aleksei Jevgrafovi to take the floor.
Aleksei Jevgrafov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Aleksei Jevgrafov raised the issue that the state budget and the explanatory memorandum do not clearly show to whom money is allocated, how much, and for what purpose, and the same problem with representational expenses reflects how our government operates.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that the state budget is complicated, and if anyone thinks that it is wrong, they should vote accordingly; he stressed the recognition of the coalition's bold ambassadors, and noted that the opposition has drawn attention to the problems.
Riina Solman
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Riina Solman raised the issue of the growth of bureaucracy and explained that in the Riigikogu expense reimbursements involve a lot of paperwork and digital signing, and she asked whether, under more transparent monitoring of ministers' and senior officials' expense reimbursements, the administrative burden would increase and whether this would be economically prudent during a period of economic tightening.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The speech begins with Riina Solmani's plea.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that the electronic submission of ministers' expense documents will increase transparency and bring about savings, since the 1,500 euros allocated to ministers may not actually be necessary, and the discussion about these expenditures will continue next year.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-chairman Arvo Aller invites Priit Lomp to speak.
Priit Lomp
AI Summary
Priit Lomp expresses concern about populism and notes that, while in the coalition, meaningless populist proposals are produced and others are blamed, but no one takes responsibility.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The message invites listeners to take action, saying that now is their time.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats said that the bill brings transparency and is not populism, and although in the past there have been ministerial actions and the “drinks in the car” topic, the Centre Party has changed and they are now making the necessary decisions.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Arvo Aller asks Madis Timpsoni to speak.
Madis Timpson
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Timpson emphasized the emotions that come with money, noted the Reform Party’s solid work, and did not agree with the claim that there is nothing good in the budget, and asked how large a fair and optimal salary for members of the Riigikogu and the government could be without bonuses.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speech discusses that salaries depend on responsibility as well as the size of the company and the market, and the private sector may offer noticeably higher pay than the Riigikogu, but becoming a politician is not solely a question of salaries, and the capabilities and diverse profiles of Riigikogu members bring added value.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
There are no further questions, and Pipi-Liis Siemann, a member of the Constitutional Committee, provides an overview of the discussion that took place in the lead committee.
Pipi-Liis Siemann
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The Constitutional Committee chaired by Pipi-Liis Siemann discussed the draft bill on the disclosure of government members' representational expenses and expense documents, the discussion was long and emotional, and it decided to bring the draft to the plenary agenda by consensus on 12 December 2024 and to propose that the draft be rejected (6 for, 4 against), appointing Siemann as the lead representative.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Arvo Aller said that there are questions, and invited Lauri Laats to answer.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats expresses the view that, although members of the Riigikogu submit monthly expense documents, ministers receive about 1,500 euros per month and are not obliged to account for it, which offends his sense of justice.
Pipi-Liis Siemann
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Pipi-Liis Siemann stressed that government members are expected to maintain an ethical and moral stance and to carry themselves with dignity, affirmed people's right to be treated with dignity, quoted Dostoevsky, and noted that regulating the substantiation of expenses on the basis of documents may not reduce the misappropriation of public funds and that different mechanisms are needed for control and guidance.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller asks to invite Lauri Laats onto the stage.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats suggests that Riigikogu members' expense allowances be kept opaque and that expense documents should not be submitted, because if we trust government members who should not abuse this situation, the same logic should apply to Riigikogu members as well.
Pipi-Liis Siemann
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
I believe that the members of the Riigikogu have the ability to distinguish good from bad and to use state money responsibly, even without a detailed description of expenses.
Helir-Valdor Seeder
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
In the Constitutional Committee, regarding the draft, the question of populism arose; left- and right-wing populism appeared, and the committee remained unclear to the end about which type of populism the case corresponds to.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Vice-chairman Arvo Aller asks Helir-Valdor Seeder to speak.
Pipi-Liis Siemann
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Siemann said that in the committee there was an impression that Mr. Laats leaned more toward right-wing populism, but today in the chamber, in my opinion, he was clearly a left-wing populist, although this did not become clear in the committee.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller could not take the next question from Andrei Korobeinik, because everyone has two questions and they have already been asked; he declared the talks open, asked Mart Maastik to speak, and said that from then on only the factions may speak.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Mart Maastik stresses that he does not want to classify it as populism, but what matters is transparency in representational expenses and the reasonableness of state leaders' salaries, citing the examples of Eesti Energia and Nordica, and showing how high salaries can undermine accountability and harm the country's economic performance.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Arvo Aller asks for three more minutes.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Mart Maastik criticizes the performance pay of state-owned enterprises and the costs associated with it, and emphasizes that those who lead the country should be competent people, and the quality of decisions is more important than working hours, and he calls on voters to take responsibility and to carefully monitor the costs of energy policy and wind farms.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Arvo Aller gave Andrei Korobeinik the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party faction.
Andrei Korobeinik
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speaker, Andrei Korobeinik, compares ministers to the heads of investment funds and argues that tying salaries to results would be a small step toward increasing Estonia's economic growth and the accountability of managers, and he calls on the coalition and the Isamaa faction to support this draft bill.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
He announced the termination of negotiations and called the Riigikogu to vote to defeat Bill 523 at its first reading.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The Riigikogu voted on the proposal with a result of 41 in favor, 8 against and 0 abstentions; Bill 523 was rejected and withdrawn from consideration, and the session ended; next week we will meet in the Great Hall.