Opposition blocks Estonia’s budget debate in finance committee
Thursday 5th November 2026 on 18:30 in
Estonia
Estonia’s parliamentary opposition prevented a state budget debate from taking place in the Finance Committee on Thursday, saying members needed more time to review proposed amendments, ERR reported. Committee chair Annely Akkermann said the opposition did not want to do substantive work.
The committee has 10 members, evenly split between the governing coalition and the opposition. Opposition members jointly opposed discussing the budget amendments. Parliament was not in session this week, and many members, including some who had submitted amendments, were outside Estonia.
Committee member Aivar Kokk of Isamaa said those who proposed amendments should attend the debate so they could explain their reasoning. Akkermann said committee members who had travelled abroad were allowed to participate via Teams, but, in her view, used the opportunity only to vote against the work schedule.
Social Democratic Party member Riina Sikkut said the proposal to cancel the meeting had taken her by surprise. She said the agenda was not approved because the coalition and opposition had equal numbers on the committee.
Nearly 100 amendments were submitted to the state budget. Isamaa and the Centre Party have proposed cutting food VAT and abolishing the car tax. Kokk said the car tax and registration fee could be scrapped from Jan. 1, adding that he believed this would happen after the next elections in any case. Committee deputy chair Andrei Korobeinik of the Centre Party said food VAT should be cut to 8% and a bank tax introduced.
The Social Democrats have proposed adding 20 million euros for special care services. Sikkut said the proposal was needed in light of a Supreme Court decision and the need to provide services to people with mental health-related special needs. She said it could win support from both coalition and opposition members. Akkermann said it was among the proposals she hoped would pass in Parliament, although it was unclear whether the full requested amount would be approved.
The Finance Committee is due to try again at an extraordinary meeting on Friday. Its regular meeting is scheduled for Monday.