Draft law amending the Sports Act (518 SE) – Second Reading
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th session, plenary sitting
Date: 2025-06-12 03:44
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 26
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 17m
AI Summaries: 26/26 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The second reading of Draft Act 518 amending the Sports Act, initiated by the Government of the Republic, was on the agenda. The rapporteur was Kadri Tali, a member of the Cultural Committee. The purpose of the draft act is to update the rules of sports ethics and the requirements for organizing sports events, and to reduce administrative burden, including the regulation concerning the application for permits to organize sports events. The first reading of the draft act was concluded on November 4, 2024, and no proposals were submitted by the deadline for presenting amendments. The leading committee (the Cultural Committee) prepared the draft act during several sessions, involving stakeholders such as the Estonian Olympic Committee, the Estonian Football Association, and several motorsport federations.
The leading committee submitted a total of seven amendments to the draft act, which were also supported by the initiator of the draft act. The most significant amendments concerned the expansion of the right to process data when granting support for coach labor costs, the replacement of the word "paraolümpia" with "paralümpia," and the clarification of the regulation for applying for permits to organize sports events, allowing for the application of a seasonal permit for up to one year to reduce administrative burden. The dates of entry into force of the act were also changed, postponing them to January 1, 2026. During the debate, Madis Kallas criticized the ministries' inability to resolve the bureaucratic situation where sports clubs must simultaneously establish sports schools so that parents can declare participation fees as training costs. Tõnis Lukas explained that this requirement stems from the need to ensure pedagogical and safety requirements when working with students. The amendments to the draft act were reviewed, and the second reading was concluded.
Decisions Made 2
All seven amendments to Draft Bill 518, submitted by the leading committee, were fully incorporated.
The second reading of Draft Bill 518 was concluded.
Most Active Speaker
The most active speaker was the rapporteur, Kadri Tali, who provided a thorough overview of the draft bill's proceedings and proposed amendments, and answered questions. Her position was member of the Culture Committee (other).
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Under agenda item 15, the second reading of Draft Act 518 on amendments to the Sports Act, initiated by the Government of the Republic, will be discussed. The rapporteur will be Kadri Tali, a member of the Culture Committee.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kadri Tali explained that Draft Bill 518 amending the Sports Act updates the rules of sports ethics, regulates the application for permits to organize sports events and the processing of data, introduces the terms Paralympics and Paralympic Games, and reduces the administrative burden, while simultaneously ensuring safety and planning for its entry into force by 2026.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kadri Tali provided a comprehensive overview of the lengthy procedural history of Bill 518, which amends the Sports Act, within the Cultural Committee. She emphasized the bill's objectives: to modernize sports ethics and event organization requirements, reduce administrative burden (for example, through a seasonal permit system), and standardize the term "Paralympics." Furthermore, she introduced seven amendments proposed by the leading committee, which postpone the law's entry into force until 2026, and proposed concluding the bill's second reading and forwarding it for the final vote in June 2025.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The Vice-Chair concludes the presentation, thanks the audience, and invites Jüri Jaanson to ask a question.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson is asking for clarification on what exactly the traffic management changes entail for sports events categorized as having an increased security risk, and whether this includes rerouting traffic both on land and on water.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson asks the rapporteur of the draft legislation to specify exactly what the criterion "reorganization of traffic" entails when organizing sports events with increased security risk. He specifically wants to know whether this includes both land and water traffic, and whether the narrowing of the traffic corridor falls under this definition as well.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kadri Tali asks about Amendment No. 4.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson asks the question “How?” using just a single word, requesting clarification or guidance.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Amendment Proposal No. 4 clarifies which specific car racing, motorcycle racing, and powerboat racing events require a permit from the rural municipality or city government to be organized.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The question asked the presenter to address the list of events related to security risks.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
He is asking for clarification on which point or paragraph it is.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller explains that two questions cannot be posed simultaneously. If you resubmit the request, you will be able to ask the second question, and Jüri Jaanson is then asked to resubmit his question.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson asks whether the amendments to Section 20 and the resulting subsections mean the reorganization of traffic for all sports competitions, and whether this includes water sports such as sailing and rowing, what the scope of the changes is, and how this will function in practice.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kadri Tali clarifies that it is not written in this explanation.
Kadri Tali
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Kadri Tali promises to clarify the subject matter that is missing from the submitted explanatory memorandum.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller concluded the round of questions, opened the debate, and invited Madis Kallas to the podium, stressing to those present in the hall that the question period had ended and that, according to the rules of procedure, speakers could only take the floor after the debate had been formally opened.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Arvo Aller offers his thanks and opens the discussion, inviting Madis Kallas to speak. He notes that there are few questions, and that attendees will also have the opportunity to speak later on site.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas stated that although the amendments to the Sports Act are welcome, it is regrettable that Estonia still faces an unresolved situation where sports clubs are forced to simultaneously establish a separate sports school entity for the purposes of managing training costs, income declaration, and dealing with bureaucracy. He added that if the law were adopted, the number of sports schools could potentially exceed one thousand, and reporting would become significantly simpler.
Madis Kallas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Madis Kallas applauds the proposed amendments to the Sports Act regarding sports ethics and the compensation of referees, but deeply laments that the ministries have failed to resolve an utterly absurd bureaucratic situation. This situation forces sports clubs to establish parallel sports schools just so parents can deduct participation fees as educational expenses on their tax returns. He calls upon the responsible ministries to swiftly resolve this issue, which generates unnecessary administrative burden.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
The Deputy Chairman thanked the body and announced that a procedural question from Jüri Jaanson would be taken first.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson expresses concern that when a question is repeated, the system registers it as a second question and does not allow the Riigikogu member to ask a second question, which he, as the presiding officer, does not consider correct, and he requests clarification.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller explains that, according to the protocol, one minute is allocated for asking questions, and it must be distinguished whether the question pertains to the explanatory memorandum or the proposed amendment. He offers Jüri Jaanson the opportunity to ask a procedural question or to make a statement right now.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
They explain that during the second question, they repeated the first one because they were asked to reiterate it, and they discuss how to resolve a situation where the server didn't understand and requested clarification, even though they had planned to ask two questions.
Aseesimees Arvo Aller
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller stated that after the second question has been clarified, it will be possible to participate in the debate and express one's views, noting that Tõnis Lukas wishes to speak from the rostrum, and following that, Jüri Jaanson will be able to take the floor for two minutes from his seat.
Tõnis Lukas
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
Overall, the impression was that the legislative gap and additional bureaucracy leave the oversight of sports clubs and sports schools partially unresolved, even though some positive forms of cooperation have emerged, and the control over compliance with pedagogical and safety requirements is not yet fully ensured.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The Chairman thanked everyone and announced the conclusion of the deliberations, stating that seven amendments to Draft Law 518 had been reviewed and that the leading committee and the Culture Committee emphasize that these amendments have been fully taken into account, thereby concluding the second reading.