The Estonian Green Party (Eesti Rohelised) had taken the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the size of the required deposit hinders a broad spectrum of candidates and is therefore counter-democratic.

The deposit size set out in the European Parliament Election Act is five times the minimum monthly wage, a sum which would currently be €4,100. The Riigikogu's constitutional committee told AK that a sum of this size does not infringe on a candidate's right to participate in the elections.

Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200), the constitutional committee's chair, told AK: "Five times the minimum wage is quite fair."

"It is common and advance knowledge as to when the elections will take place, and the approximate size of the deposit is also known, so it can be accounted for and planned ahead for," he went on.

Both coalition and opposition parties alike had spokespersons who echoed this line.

Helir-Valdor Seeder (Isamaa), who also sits on the committee, told AK: "The deposit also intentionally serves to limit so-called random candidates or those who do not take this process seriously, or who do not have the possibility of being elected."

"The deposit serves an important purpose. It is not just a financial barrier or penalty," said the Constitutional Committee member.

The Green Party and its leader Evelyn Sepp have filed the complaint with the Supreme Court.

Sepp said: "If an average working person has to save far more than three months' salary just to run in an election, it's not enough to say that they knew about this five years in advance."

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise stated the deposit requirement is in line with the Constitution as she sees it.

She also noted that five years ago she had asked the Riigikogu to consider an alternative whereby a candidate could demonstrate their credibility either by amassing signatures, as an alternative to stumping up a deposit.

Oliver Kask, chair of the National Election Committee (VVK), pointed out that in some countries, candidates can and must go down the latter route. This is however a political choice, he said.

"Perhaps collecting signatures might bring additional workload and time pressures for election organizers, who must verify the accuracy of the signatures, while it would force candidates to come out with their lists earlier to start collecting signatures in time for the process to be completed," Kask said.

As of Monday, the Supreme Court declined to comment on the European Parliament election deposit issue.

The Estonian Greens have no MEP seats, though a former MEP from Estonia, Indrek Tarand, sat with the European Greens' group during his time at the Strasbourg parliament. The party is not represented at the Riigikogu currently, but has been in the past, and it has a handful of local councilors nationwide.

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