With the bill, the EU return certificate will also be added to the identity documents issued under the law.
An EU return certificate is issued to a citizen of an unrepresented member state in a third country or the EU, whose passport or travel document has been lost, stolen or destroyed or is temporarily unavailable, or, for example, to a child born during the trip. A person is unrepresented if his/her country of citizenship does not have a third country a foreign mission in the country or the European Union, or if the foreign mission or honorary consul there is not able to issue a return document in a specific case.
Issuance of the EU return certificate is stipulated by the decision of the Council of the European Union. Until now, the decision of the Council of the EU has been implemented on the basis of the statute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the directive of the Minister of Foreign Affairs based on it.
According to the bill, the state fee rates for the operations performed in the foreign mission will also be changed for and new state fees will be established for operations that have not yet been taxed. State fees are adjusted to actual expenses. The regulation regarding state fees related to PPA operations will also be modernized and the rates of state fees charged for applications submitted in PPA services, by post or e-mail or in a self-service environment will be differentiated.
The bill harmonizes the scope of application of VõrdKS in such a way that discrimination on the basis of religion or beliefs, age, disability or sexual orientation would be prohibited to the same extent as in the case of nationality, race and skin color.
This means the prohibition of discrimination in receiving social welfare, healthcare and social security services, including social benefits, in addition to the areas of work and vocational training; in education; and those offered to the public in the availability of goods and services, including housing. By changing the law, all the mentioned groups can apply to the Equality Commissioner. The changes are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2023.
In addition to expanding the scope of application of the law, the draft contains a couple of normative technical or clarifying changes, including measures to ensure the rights and freedoms of disabled people, in connection with the product and service accessibility directive coming into force. The amendment expands competence of the Equality Commissioner, ensuring better legal protection for assistance in cases of discrimination. The changes are planned to enter into force in a general manner.
Chairman of the Supreme Court, Villu Kõve, proposes to appoint Heili Sepp as a member of the Supreme Court from March 1, 2022.
Kõve notes in the cover letter that Heili Sepa's long-term and very versatile experience in public service enables him to contribute significantly to the work of the Supreme Court's criminal collegium and the further development of Estonian criminal law.
In addition to his long-term service in the public sector, Sepp has published numerous articles on legal topics and opinion pieces. He is also one of the co-authors of the annotated edition of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. Sepa's contribution to the development of drafts and amendments to laws concerning criminal law and criminal procedure has been significant. He has passed on his knowledge in annual lectures and seminars at the University of Tartu and the Internal Security Academy, as well as in training sessions for judges and court lawyers. Sepp is included in the list of OECD and GRECO experts as expert in law enforcement and justice system and criminal procedure and anti-corruption measures.
The bill allows the contribution of up to 46 defense personnel to a training and advisory mission in Afghanistan led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The bill enables multiple citizenship for Estonian citizens who have acquired Estonian citizenship by birth. The bill also provides for the possibility of restoration of Estonian citizenship for persons who acquired Estonian citizenship before February 26, 1992, but were forced to renounce it or were considered to have lost or renounced Estonian citizenship.
The statement states that the UN Global Migration Framework is a legally non-binding cooperation framework, which has also been emphasized by the Chancellor of the Republic of Estonia. This is a declaration jointly negotiated by the UN member states, which gives us the opportunity to improve international cooperation in the field of migration, including preventing illegal migration and combating human trafficking and smuggling, as well as protecting the rights of Estonian people in foreign countries.
Global The migration framework emphasizes the fundamental principle that every country has the sovereign right to shape its own migration policy in accordance with international law.
The statement outlines the principles of the Global Migration Framework, which the Riigikogu supports.
The Riigikogu expresses its conviction that the objectives of the Framework contribute to the fight against illegal migration and its reduction, mitigating, among other things, the negative consequences for its victims.
Estonia The Riigikogu of the Republic supports the adoption of the UN Global Migration Framework.
Termination of the agreement is necessary to ensure equal treatment of investors from all EU member states as a result of the legislation of the European Union.
Investment promotion and protection agreements deal with areas regulated by EU law - in particular freedom of establishment and free movement of capital and payments. Thus, the protection of member states' investments and the equal treatment of investors is regulated by EU law and bilaterally by member states contracts have no substantive meaning.
Among the EU member states, Estonia has concluded investment protection agreements with Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom. In the past, Estonia has concluded similar agreements with Italy, the Czech Republic and Denmark. The foreign committee was appointed as the leading committee.
The bill allows for contributions to EUNAVFOR Med (EU Naval Forces in the Mediterranean) next year. The purpose of the operation is to prevent the activities of human traffickers in the central Mediterranean between the territorial sea of Italy and Malta and Libya. Since August 2015, Estonia has been participating in the EUNAVFOR Med/Sophia operation with one logistics staff officer. The bill allows sending up to six active-duty soldiers to the operation.
The bill extends from January 1 to December 31, 2017, the deadline for the use of up to ten active servicemen of the Defense Forces in the European Union Training Mission EUTM Mali (European Union Training Mission in Mali). Until the end of next year, the deadline for the use of up to ten active duty soldiers of the Defense Forces in Mali in the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) will be extended. In 2016, Estonia will contribute EUTM in Mali mission with instructors tasked with providing military training to Malian units. Contributions are also made to staff officers who participate in the planning and advisory process for training Malian units. Next year, Estonia will contribute to MINUSMA with two staff officers and an observation and advisory team who will serve in ASIFU (All Sources Information Fusion Unit), a multi-state target unit managed by the Netherlands within MINUSMA.