Riigikogu approves draft regulation on EU recovery facility
The parliament at a sitting on Monday passed a draft regulation approving the decision of the Council of the European Union regarding a system of own resources which stipulates that the recovery plan is to be funded through borrowing on behalf of the EU.
The regulation was passed with 63 votes for and 19 against. The handling of the draft resolution in the parliament had been tied to a a vote of confidence in the government.
Minister of Finance Keit Pentus-Rosimannus (Reform) said the EU heads of state and government had agreed on both taking out the loan as well as on introducing a new source of revenue in July 2020 as part of the compromise reached on the European Union's long-term budget and creation of a recovery plan.
According to the Council decision, the loan will be repaid by all EU member states through appropriations within the EU budget from 2027 until the end of 2058. As a first step, a new category of own resources based on national contributions calculated on the basis of non-recycled plastic packaging waste will be introduced.
The government initiated the draft regulation on March 11 and first reading thereof was concluded on April 7. Altogether 766 motions to amend the draft were submitted by the deadline on April 21 - one by the group of the opposition Isamaa party and 765 by the group of opposition Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE).
The government on May 6 decided to tie the vote on the draft regulation to a vote of confidence in the government ahead of second reading because it considered the rapid adoption of the draft extremely important due to the European Commission only being able to take out the loan when all member states have concluded their domestic procedures for approving the Council decision.
By the end of April, the procedures had successfully been concluded in 19 member states. Funds in the EU recovery and resilience facility are planned to be mobilized this summer.
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Editor: Helen Wright