Estonia’s 2027 budget bill clears second reading

Estonia’s 2027 state budget bill completed its second reading in parliament at 00:56 on Thursday, ERR reported.

The government’s draft budget projects revenue of 19.4 billion euros next year, spending of nearly 20.2 billion euros and investment of almost 1.2 billion euros.

Members of parliament and parliamentary groups submitted 95 proposed amendments. The Finance Committee partially accepted three and rejected the rest. The committee also proposed a multi-part amendment to clarify allocations within and between ministries, and an additional 7.47 million euros from the government reserve to improve access to and the quality of special care services.

Four parliamentary groups, from the Centre Party, the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia, Isamaa and the Social Democrats, called for the second reading to be suspended. The motion failed, with 47 members voting in favour and 50 against.

The bill must pass a third reading to be adopted. Amendments for that stage can be submitted until 17:15 on November 25. Parliament’s Wednesday sitting continued with other items on the agenda and was still in progress at 08:00 on Thursday.