Postimees Digest, Wednesday, May 22
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Committee presents changes to parties act.
The Riigikogu Constitutional Affairs Committee is set to present to the parliament a bill to amend principles of party financing and supervision today. The Riigikogu press service announced yesterday that the committee approved several changes that, among other things, boost financing for political parties that participate in elections but fail to make it to the parliament. Parties that merit at least 2-3 percent of the vote will in the future receive 30,000 euros a year from the state budget while those that merit 3-4 percent will get 60,000 euros and those that merit 4-5 percent 100,000 euros. Current state budget support for parties that fail to reach the election threshold of 5 percent ranges from 9,587 to 15,978 euros a year.
The committee also decided to cut in half the bail required to participate in Riigikogu elections. It is now set at one minimum salary. Changes restrict parties' maximum loan obligations that cannot exceed 25 percent of state budget support in the future. Amendments also forbid parties to accept money or concessions from third parties provided the latter are not made available to everyone and introduce stricter supervision and punishments for violations. The constitutional committee is planning to complement the amendment after its first reading as it has not yet decided on how to contain campaign expenses of parties.
Visaginas project unsustainable.
Head of Eesti Energia's nuclear project Andres Tropp said, after a meeting between Baltic energy companies and technology supplier Hitachi last week, that European energy policy and poor investment climate in the sector mean that a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas, Lithuania would not be economically feasible. "Development of EU energy sector regulations has led to a situation where investments into production capacity not eligible for state subsidies are not economically feasible," Tropp said. He explained that climate policy developments remain unpredictable, the market lacks regulation for energy imported from third countries, including Russia, and that subsidization of renewable energy has distorted competition to an overly great extent.