Transport

Act to amend the Aviation Act and the Health Services Organization Act

Estonia · Riigikogu · 20 November 2023

The bill makes changes related to the operation of state aircraft in the possession of the Police and Border Guard Board. According to the bill, the principle that the relevant regulation of the European Parliament and the Council, which regulates the common norms of civil aviation, mainly for the purpose of ensuring flight safety, will apply to the operation of PPA state aircraft, their activities and employees. It is a fundamental decision to apply When operating PPA's national aircraft, European Union law and civil aviation requirements, which according to international law do not apply to national aircraft. Simply put, this means that the bill will allow for mutual recognition of the airworthiness of PPA national aircraft, for pilots to continue to fly, maintain their qualifications and train under a civil license, and to ensure that flight crews are subject to aeromedical requirements.

Riigikogu decision "Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic to develop an action plan for the completion of the construction of Tallinn Hospital, the creation of multi-purpose medical helicopter capability and the construction of the Rohuküla railway"

Estonia · Riigikogu · 19 July 2022

With the draft, the government is proposed to develop a way of financing the construction of Tallinna Hospital, which has already been committed, to acquire essential medical helicopters and to build the section of the Rohuküla railway between Turba and Risti.

Act on amending the Road Transport Act and amending other related laws

Estonia · Riigikogu · 22 November 2021

With the bill, the Road Transport Act, the Act on the Working Conditions of Employees Posted in Estonia, and other laws are brought into line with the directives and directly applicable regulations of the European Union road package. The purpose of the road package is to ensure proper working conditions and social protection for drivers and conditions of fair competition for trucking companies. In international paid road transport, the requirement for a community license also includes cars and road trains which the permissible gross weight is between 2500 kilograms and 3500 kilograms. Among other things, in order to obtain an activity permit, it is necessary to have a transport management manager who has completed training and is responsible for road transport organized by the carrier. In order to transpose the directive, it is necessary to establish implementing regulations that expand the requirements of the directive for workers posted to the road transport sector. Therefore, in the future, the driver carrying out car transport in another country must be paid at least a commission wages equal to the minimum wage of the state of the place of occurrence, including overtime wages, etc. This is the case if, by agreement of the parties, the minimum wage is paid and the minimum wage of the place of assignment is higher than the minimum wage of the home country.

Law approving amendments to the Convention on International Carriage by Rail and its Annexes

Estonia · Riigikogu · 10 May 2021

COTIF is a unified system of legal regulations concerning the international rail transport of passengers, luggage and goods. In addition to international rail transport, the uniform rules of COTIF are also applied to related road and water transport. As of December 1, 2020, OTIF includes 50 member states from Europe, North Africa and Central Asia, as well as Jordan, and the European Union as an organization. The members of the organization are all the EU member states Cyprus and Malta, as these countries do not have railways. The uniform rules for the carriage of passengers and goods (CIV and CIM) contained in the annexes of the convention are applied on railways for more than 250,000 km.

The Act on the Amendment of the Ship Flag Law and Ship Registers Act and the Income Tax Act and the Act on the Amendment of Other Acts Related Thereto and the Act on the Amendment of Other Acts

Estonia · Riigikogu · 21 October 2019

The draft specifies the special income tax regime for companies in the shipping sector and brings it into line with the European Union's state aid rules. The basic conditions of the special tax regime are not changed, but individual conditions are specified. The main activities, additional activities and other activities that are eligible for assistance in international maritime transport, from which the more favorable tonnage-based income tax regime is allowed to be used in terms of income. In the case of income from additional activities, you can to use the tonnage-based income tax regime only under the condition that the income received cannot exceed 50 percent of the income from the international transport of goods or passengers. The rule is also provided for the situation when the ship makes voyages both in Estonia and in foreign countries. If the attendance of Estonian ports remains below 50 percent, the tonnage rule is allowed to be applied. It is specified that in the case of a group, the tonnage-based income tax regime cannot be used for only one company, but in relation to eligible companies belonging to the entire group. A natural person, whose income is taxed on the basis of a fixed tax base, will not be able to use any possibility of deduction from the income permitted by law in the normal regime. According to the previously valid law, a crew member could deduct, for example, the costs of acquiring pension fund units. The limit applies only to income earned as a crew member.

Act on amending the Estonian Health Insurance Fund Act and amending other related laws

Estonia · Riigikogu · 25 September 2017

As part of the expansion of the revenue base of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, the draft provides for the transfer of part of the services financed from the state budget to the Estonian Health Insurance Fund in order to reduce the fragmentation of funding and thereby increase the efficiency of the health care system. The bill establishes a phased expansion of the revenue base of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund and the related transfer of expenses from the state budget to the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. On April 23, the government approved the negotiations of the state budget strategy 2018-2021 within the framework of expanding the revenue base of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund and to contribute 7 percent to its budget in 2018, 10 percent in 2019, 11 percent in 2020, 12 percent in 2021 and 13 percent in 2022 for the non-working old-age pensioner's pension.

Law approving amendments to the Convention on International Carriage by Rail and its Annexes

Estonia · Riigikogu · 29 May 2017

The bill approves the 2015 amendments to the Convention on International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) and its annexes. The convention regulates international rail traffic, including uniform rules for the use of wagons and infrastructure, as well as goods and passenger transport. The changes are of a clarifying nature, contributing to a more flexible operation of the convention. For example, the budget period of the organization will be shortened from the previous 6 years for 3 years. In this regard, the calculation period of the membership fee will also be shortened, which allows for better planning of revenues and more accurate preparation of the budget. In recent years, the Estonian membership fee has been in the range of 5,648-8,940 Swiss francs per year.

Act on Amendments to the Natural Gas Act and the Electricity Market Act

Estonia · Riigikogu · 12 December 2016

The aim of the bill is to increase Estonia's energy security, make the Estonian gas market more open and encourage competition between sellers. In order to increase Estonia's energy security, a gas reserve regulation is created for domestic consumers and companies producing heat for residential heating, according to which the system manager must keep the gas reserve in an amount that meets the requirements stipulated in the relevant EU regulation. In the interests of energy security, the draft establishes an obligation, that the gas reserve can only be stored in a European Union country. The gas reserve is used when there is a serious supply failure in the gas system. According to the draft, a more detailed requirement is set for the gas system manager, which is Elering AS, to keep a gas reserve for domestic consumers and companies producing heat for residential heating in order to ensure at least 30 days of gas supply security in the event of a supply disruption. To make the Estonian gas market more open and competition between sellers to facilitate this, the system manager is required to develop a gas market data exchange platform that allows the consumer to get a periodic overview of gas consumption and with which gas sellers can be changed. The bill regulates the changes to the obligation to maintain the balance, according to which the balance of the gas system will be kept in energy units at the contractual pressure of 1 atm and temperature of 0 °C. The provision of the bill reduces the administrative burden on gas sellers, according to which they will only be required to register instead of an activity license. A gas seller who sells gas to domestic consumers no longer has to coordinate the standard conditions of the sales contract with the Competition Authority. It is enough if the seller has published the standard terms and conditions on his website. The explanatory note states that gas makes up a relatively low share in Estonia's energy balance - less than 5 percent. Gas is used the most in Estonia by the district heating sector - 40 percent, followed by industry with 23 percent. Domestic consumers use natural gas for 12 percent of their annual gas consumption. The share of gas in Estonian district heating is decreasing, gas boilers are being replaced by wood chip boilers. For example, in Tallinn, 60 percent of gas is still used for district heating. This share will decrease to less than half next year, and in a few years gas will be used only to cover the peak load - then gas will make up 20 percent of Tallinn of the fuel needed for the production of district heating. Estonia is essentially an energy island when it comes to gas – we are physically separated from the rest of Europe's gas system. The same applies to Finland and Latvia. Most of the gas used in Estonia is supplied by Gazprom.

Act amending the Animal Protection Act, the Animal Disease Control Act and the Act on Trade in Animals and Animal Products and their Import and Export

Estonia · Riigikogu · 18 April 2016

With the draft, the regulation on the transport of animals will be brought into line with the provisions of the general part of the Code of Economic Activities and the law of the European Union. In order to prevent the spread of a particularly dangerous animal disease spread by wild animals to animal husbandry companies and households and to increase the country's disease control capacity, the Animal Disease Control Act is amended, taking into account the experience gained from 2014 to date in the prevention and control of African swine fever (ASF). To be specified disease control measures, including the competence of the Veterinary and Food Board in case of suspicion and outbreak of animal disease. The requirements for keeping animals susceptible to diseases will be tightened. The rules for moving live pigs out of the restricted zone and trading in pork and pork products are clarified and modernized. The basis for compensation for damage caused in connection with animal disease control will also be changed. The disease allowance is not paid if the animal keeper repopulates the restricted zone during the period of validity with animals in such a building where there has been an outbreak of the same disease, and he has already received a grant to compensate for the disease damages. It is also possible to restrict the movement of vehicles to prevent the spread of a particularly dangerous animal disease. This means that the motor vehicle and its trailer must be cleaned and, if necessary, disinfected before entering the disease-free area. The manager is also obliged to keep records of disinfection about the time, place and means used, and keep the documents reflecting the accounting for at least one year.

Act amending the Railway Act and the Public Transport Act

Estonia · Riigikogu · 9 November 2015

The bill takes over the directives of the European Union, which regulate the creation of the railway region above the EU and the certification of locomotive drivers. The changes make the rail market more transparent and enhance cooperation in order to facilitate international rail transport, stimulate reliable and sustainable financing, and increase the competence of the Competition Authority in Estonia. The changes primarily concern railway undertakings, which must, if necessary, changes in its business structure to separate the operation of the service facility from other activities. In the network announcement, the railway infrastructure operator must provide more detailed information about the conditions for using the infrastructure. In order to ensure the sustainability of the railway infrastructure, the state is obliged to ensure that the infrastructure company is also able to develop the infrastructure in accordance with the agreements concluded with the state, which means that, if necessary, the state must to contribute financially to the infrastructure company. The bill clarifies the requirements for periodic interim checks of locomotive drivers, according to which language skills must also be checked if the language specified by the railway infrastructure company for use on the railway is not the driver's native language. Language skills are important so that the driver and the dispatcher can understand each other, otherwise dangerous situations may arise due to misunderstandings. Draft specifies the code of conduct of the Technical Supervision Board (TJA) if the locomotive driver does not meet the established requirements.

An Act to amend the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Act

Estonia · Riigikogu · 10 June 2013

Law approving Annex 9 of the International Convention on Coordination of Conditions for Border Control of Goods

Estonia · Riigikogu · 10 September 2012

Act to amend the Act on Accession to the Convention on International Carriage by Rail

Estonia · Riigikogu · 9 January 2012