Draft law amending the Aliens Act and, in consequence thereof, amending other laws (to improve migration proceedings) – second reading
Session: Fifteenth Riigikogu, fifth sitting, plenary session
Date: 2025-03-18 12:10
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 82
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 49m
AI Summaries: 82/82 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The debate concerning the bill amending the Aliens Act and other related acts (to improve migration procedures) took place during the second reading of Bill 548. The main focus was accelerating migration procedures and strengthening migration control through the digital “one-stop shop” principle and the integration of data exchange between state institutions (the Police and Border Guard Board, the Tax and Customs Board, the Labour Inspectorate, and the Employment Service) via the X-tee system. The bill also includes additional grounds and criteria for granting residence permits, conditions for probationary work, and conditions for permanent residency, including the completion of an integration program and the requirement of a minimum A2 level language proficiency, and a definition of the length of permanent residency in Estonia. The first reading took place on January 28th; the deadline for amendments was February 11th, and no amendments were received. The committee involved stakeholders and discussed proposals, resulting in six amendments being submitted and agreed upon. From March 10th to 11th, the constitutional committee heard opinions and decided to make those six amendments, the content of which clarified the provisions of the Aliens Act regarding the exception for waiving visa requirements, the temporal rate of previous economic activity, and changes relating to labour market control and the sustainability of entrepreneurship. Finally, a decision will be adopted to conclude the second reading of the bill and to conclude the consideration of the second agenda item, taking the six amendments into account “fully”.
Decisions Made 1
The conclusion of the second reading and the collection of positions: all six proposed amendments were presented unanimously and it was decided to take them fully into account. The conclusion of the draft’s second reading and the conclusion of handling the second agenda item.
Most Active Speaker
Speaker: Mart Helme (pid Bav3E8LSHIE). Position: right, or right-wing. He emerged as a significantly more active participant and posed several questions and comments, emphasizing opposing criticism and a critical stance regarding the draft.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi informed that we are moving on to the second reading of Bill No. 548, which concerns amending the Aliens Act and related laws to strengthen migration procedures, and that the briefing will be given by Hendrik Johannes Terras, the chair of the Constitutional Committee.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
The proposal will increase immigration procedures and border control, creating a one-stop-shop for electronic and paperless communication between foreigners and hosts in Estonia, including employers and educational institutions, and enabling the transfer of data at once to the Police and Border Guard Board, the Tax and Customs Board, the Labour Inspectorate, and the Unemployment Insurance Fund via X-tee; it adds additional grounds for refusing a residence permit to ensure security and prevent abuse; in the case of labour hire, the one-month salary deposit requirement is replaced by a six-month period of prior actual economic activity; it establishes additional grounds for refusing a residence permit in the event of a connection with foreign security agencies or law enforcement authorities; and for a foreigner permanently residing in Estonia a mandatory integration program and at least A2 level Estonian language proficiency are introduced, and the definition of permanent residence permit is clarified.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanks the audience for the presentation.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
The presentation isn’t over yet, and they said that the sound is a little too loud and that they can’t hear themselves.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi asked for a little more quiet in the hall and said that the noise makes the performance uncomfortable, adding that other colleagues share the same opinion and asked Hendrik Johannes Terras to continue.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
The February 11 deadline for submitting amendment proposals did not bring any changes, but the Constitutional Committee involved stakeholder groups and heard the opinions of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Data Protection Inspectorate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of the Interior, and on March 11 decided to submit six amendment proposals, including clarifying the right to make an exception to visa requirements under the Aliens Act and reducing or removing the time limit on prior economic activity from employers' requirements, which was justified by a staged migration policy, and the remaining amendments were drafting-related, and the committee adopted all procedural decisions by consensus.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chair thanks the presenter for the presentation, states that there are questions, and asks Mart Helme to respond.
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme asks whether the impact of this bill has been analyzed and what impact it would have if it were adopted on our migration balance and the number of foreigners, and whether such analyses have been conducted.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
This does not change the immigration quota, but rather simplifies the paperwork by providing a digital overview, and since the requirements under which companies can bring in labor are being tightened, it does not significantly increase the number of people coming to Estonia, but it makes the current activity easier.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Jaak Valge to speak.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge thanks and asks whether the advocate for mass immigration is the cause of Estonia's large influx of cheap labor, which, according to OECD data, hampers the modernization of the economy and has left Estonia's productivity behind its neighboring countries, as Poland and Hungary overtook us in 2023.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is simply a word of thanks used to express gratitude.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Hendrik Johannes Terras denies that he is an advocate for mass immigration, emphasizes the need for skilled labor, and regards the admission of Ukrainian war refugees to Estonia as justified.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi invited Reili Randi to take the floor.
Reili Rand
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Reili Rand asks how Estonia's annual inflow of more than 2,500 cheap labor workers affects the economy, the creation of added value, and digitalization.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Terras notes that this is not a shortage of cheap labour but a shortage of skilled labour, and in Estonia there is a shortage, for example, of machine operators and industrial engineers, which increases the productivity of businesses, and although the vocational education reform is expected to fill this gap in the coming years, it is reasonable for now to allow companies to source this labour from abroad.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks Kalle Grünthal to take the floor.
Kalle Grünthal
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Grünthal criticizes the presenter for pedantry, but gives him the opportunity to demonstrate his erudition and asks him to explain how the bill reduces paperwork.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
They thanked their colleague and said that we have already been in this situation several times, but they believe in your ability to read and encourage you to read through the draft bill, because it is lengthy and may take some time, and after that it will be possible to discuss.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a short and polite request addressed to Helle-Moonika Helme.
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Helle-Moonika Helme noted that the draft bill offers fast-track processing for growth companies (startups) when taking on employees, and incentives related to the participation of film crews in Estonia, and asked why these sectors in particular were singled out.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
There is talk about a situation in which we lack on-site expertise, and in order to ensure the successful execution of projects and the rapid deployment of large foreign investments, it is necessary to bring here experts at a reasonable pace.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The speech begins with inviting Arvo Alleri onto the stage.
Arvo Aller
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Arvo Alleri's remarks criticize the proposed amendments to the Aliens Act, saying that the current system allows bringing in labor into Estonia at higher wages without quotas and up to one month for unskilled workers, exemptions already exist (13–14), and therefore there is no obvious problem that this amendment would solve.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
The draft has two main axes: firstly, to digitize paper-based licensing procedures and to enable data repositories to communicate with each other and to build an interoperability framework, and secondly, to restrict the activities of companies that establish a firm, bring in foreign labor and then cease operations, by requiring six months of economic activity before the introduction of workers.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a short prayer to Helmen Kütt.
Helmen Kütt
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Helmen Kütt asked the chair, and in her capacity as chair of the steering committee, whether during the committee meeting the annual quota was discussed, how large it was last year and whether it was met, and whether the committee discussed or considered directing energy and money toward NEET youths' training, education, and job creation.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
This draft bill does not deal with the quota, although the quota is 0.1% of the population, and last year it probably was not met due to a shortage of labor in the economy, and although we cannot say how it will be fulfilled going forward, there are two objectives under this law: to move all permit procedures from paper to information systems and to hinder the import of labor into companies that lack prior economic activity, and at present the system is too lax and it has been abused.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a short prayer addressed to Helle-Moonika Helme.
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Helle-Moonika Helme emphasizes that startups are not large investments, but young companies with garage-born ideas, and she cites Bolt as an example of a startup and warns that the law will turn this into an immigration pump, and she asks why film crews have been brought in separately and why these two groups belong under the same law.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanks.
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
For us, it is very clear that Bolt's lobbying work is being carried out again.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Terras said that the bill would not increase immigration, but would tighten the requirements—for example, startups would have to demonstrate six months of economic activity before bringing in foreign labor, because previously there was nothing to show.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Rain Epler.
Rain Epler
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Rain Epler acknowledged that promoting the production of films and television series brings the state significant economic benefits, but offered a personal perspective and asked whether, by restricting the bringing in of foreign actors, there could be an opportunity to do work on large projects that would be more to his liking, and asked for comment from that perspective.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Hendrik Johannes Terras said that in the context of this draft bill this is not important, and he smiled.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The speaker requests that Kalle Grünthal present the second question.
Kalle Grünthal
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kalle Grünthal criticizes the fact that the topic of a paperless economy is discussed in only one sentence in the explanatory memorandum, and asks for clarification on what the 'one-stop-shop principle' means and how it is applied in practice.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
This talk explains the one-stop-shop principle, according to which data repositories communicate with each other through a portal via government agencies, so that the user does not have to submit requests on different websites and all the necessary data are available from one place.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy speaker Toomas Kivimägi invited Züleyxa Izmailova to speak.
Züleyxa Izmailova
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Züleyxa Izmailova highlighted that the government's plan to bring 2,500 foreign workers to Estonia, who will be paid at least the average wage, may lead to a decline in local wages and a deterioration in the living standards of Estonian families, and she asked how this situation should be alleviated.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
They pointed out that in Estonia there is a labor shortage in the industrial sector, especially among skilled workers such as industrial engineers and machine operators, and until the vocational education reform comes into force, these workers must be found in order to grow the economy.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi, vice-chairman, asks Rain Epler to pose the second question.
Rain Epler
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Rain Epler criticizes the exaggeration by comparing the Education Minister's promise that children will be able to access all schools through one door with the arrival of migrant workers through a single window.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Terras noted that simplification is a two-way street: it facilitates both the applicant and the Estonian state and its officials, and in his view a more efficient and more digitized functioning of the state is certainly not a bad thing.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi said that the word game was very nice indeed, and he turned to Tanel Kiik with a plea.
Tanel Kiik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Tanel Kiik asks why it is necessary to change the quota that is not being filled, and why the labor market stakeholders are not ready to be involved in the process.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Hendrik Terras stated that an OSKA report will be issued soon, which summarizes input from employers and trade unions, and if a shortage of labor arises, it is reasonable to allow skilled labor from abroad, which the report and the parties involved will take into account.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Tõnis Lukas for something.
Tõnis Lukas
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
Tõnis Lukas said that the bill does not change the quota, but the discussion has broadened, and with the current quota's 13 exemptions and the described labor needs, shortages can be addressed, and the ideology that we have a shortage and that the rules do not allow bringing in labor is unfounded; in Harju County, for these occupations you must not pay less than 1.5 times the salary, because with a normal salary you can currently bring these people in.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
In speech, gratitude is simply expressed.
Tõnis Lukas
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
They claim that the justifications for the quota-based economy and the need for labor will drive down our people's wages.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanks Tõnis.
Tõnis Lukas
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
He explains that people have already left and therefore we have a shortage.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi thanks the audience.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
He thanked and said that there was no question.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi invited Siim Pohlak to speak.
Siim Pohlak
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Siim Pohlak criticizes the Social Democrats' immigration policy, claiming that the real labor shortage is not as large as described and that the problem's cause is jobs that have been closed due to entrepreneurs' economic policy, and he asks where those entrants who have come here under an exemption will go to work and what the real bottleneck is.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
A bottleneck in the industrial sector is certain jobs, such as machine operators and industrial engineers, and in Estonia there are not enough people who can perform these jobs.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Tanel Kiiki to speak.
Tanel Kiik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Tanel Kiik asks whether an analysis was conducted in 2022 regarding the impact of the relaxations to foreign labor recruitment that were adopted, and on what basis to decide the need for additional changes.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Hendrik Johannes Terras thanked the question and said that the topic is very specific and at the moment does not fall within the framework of the draft bill, but if the draft bill comes to the table, we can return to the topic, and he will take the proposal with him.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Siim Pohlakul to present the second question.
Siim Pohlak
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
According to entrepreneurs, Estonia's biggest problem is the price of energy, solving which would ensure cheap electricity and would allow higher salaries for employees, while fine-tuning and changes to quotas will not save Estonian entrepreneurship.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
He said that energy prices and sustainability are very important in Estonia and are being addressed; the coalition agreement has not yet been signed, but in solving problems one should not be limited to a single perspective, and if it is possible to bring relief from another angle and to develop the economy, those possibilities should be utilized.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi makes a simple request to Rene Kok.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Hendrik Johannes Terras said that these two things are not related to each other.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks Tõnis Lukas to pose the second question.
Tõnis Lukas
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
They ask why the state should increase the quota and allow bringing in foreign specialists with lower pay, when employers do not want to pay market wages.
Hendrik Johannes Terras
AI Summary
Thank you for the question, but within the framework of this proposed bill we will not focus on this topic; with that we will address other migration problems, and the topic can be revisited if necessary.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanks the participants, states that there are no more questions, opens the negotiations, and asks Jaak Valget to speak.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge said that the bill will not bring major changes to immigration and that reducing bureaucracy is positive, but he critically noted the government's plan to bring in cheap labor, emphasizing that only investments with high added value that create jobs for older people and take demographics into account are beneficial for Estonia, because the inflow of cheap labor lowers wage levels and hinders economic modernization, as OECD statements confirm, and therefore immigration should be directed primarily to specialists and high-tech companies.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
They answered affirmatively and promised three extra minutes.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The cheap labor coming from Ukraine and Belarus will exacerbate Estonia's demographic problems, because birth rates in those countries are even lower than in Estonia, and it is politically detrimental to the nation, and the use of the Estonian language is shrinking.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman thanked everyone and invited Kalle Grünthal to take the floor.
Kalle Grünthal
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kalle Grünthal states that this draft bill will accelerate the decline of the Estonian people through migration and hidden investments, and due to the uncertain economic environment investments will not come; therefore the focus should be on repopulating the population and increasing the natural increase, referring to the work of Jaak Uibo and other researchers and to the desire to form a task force attached to the Government Office, and he asks not to support the draft.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is an expression of gratitude and a request to Mart Helme.
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme claimed that the draft bill is the lobbying work of globalists and liberals, which lacks an analysis of its impact on immigration and on sectors, and which exacerbates Estonia's regional crisis, the shortage of jobs, and the emigration of Estonians abroad.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Toomas Kivimägi asked for three more minutes.
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme claims that the Estonian state and nation are in danger of demographic replacement, behind which are lawmakers and employers, and as a result a large influx of immigrants is flowing into the country — about 100,000 Ukrainians, 100,000 Russians, 100,000 Belarusians and 100,000 Muslims — which will cause his generation to die out soon.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi ended negotiations, announced six amendments that will be fully taken into account, and that the second reading of Bill 548 and the second item on the agenda have been completed.