Isamaa seeks 10% base pay cut for next Estonian parliament

Isamaa wants to cut the base salary of members of the next Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, by 10% and limit their future pay rises, ERR reports. The Reform Party says the issue should be addressed alongside the government’s planned changes to the pay system for senior public servants.

Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu said higher-ranking public servants had received comparatively smaller pay rises for years as a signal that costs should be reduced, while the same approach had not been applied to MPs. Parliamentary salaries can be changed only for the next parliament, he said.

Reinsalu said the proposal would bring MPs’ base salaries closer to the previous proportion between their pay and that of other senior public servants. It would also apply a slower pay-rise system, like the one the government has proposed for the coming years. He estimated the changes would save about 10 million euros over four years.

Reinsalu said he hoped other parties would support Isamaa’s bill, but had not yet discussed it with them.

Reform Party parliamentary group leader Õnne Pillak said the government’s bill on the salaries of senior public servants should first reach the Riigikogu. She said her party supported smaller pay rises for MPs, in line with the approach for government members, but that the precise percentage remained open and several options were under consideration.

Pillak said the proposals were not competing, and that the changes could be handled in one bill. Isamaa could support the government’s bill, she said, and its proposal could be added if the measures were similar.

From April 1, 2026, an MP’s monthly salary is 6,655.81 euros.