In the language of the European Parliament, these weeks are called “Strasbourg sessions”—as a reminder, it is in this French city that a plenary session is held roughly once a month, during which we vote “for” or “against” various laws.
My Monday began with “Ten Minutes with Jana Toom” on Radio Maximum. We discussed a European directive that was adopted long ago and is now being implemented into Estonian law—a directive that led to a terrible incident: Mart Helme (EKRE) spoke in Russian in the Estonian Parliament and threatened everyone that Russian would soon become our second official language. Since I was already on my way to Strasbourg, I had to comment on this pressing issue over the phone.
On the way from Brussels to Strasbourg, I continued to prepare. The plenary session turned out to be very heated and intense. Many of the issues we voted on concerned the EU budget, the formation of which is in full swing.
Among other things, the agenda included a proposal to postpone the upcoming launch of ETS2. This is the second CO2 emissions trading system, which applies among other things to residential buildings. I voted in favor of the postponement because there is a risk that this system will exacerbate the crisis. Unfortunately, I have to say that the proposal did not pass.
The European Parliament adopted the first European standards for the breeding, keeping, tracking, and import of cats and dogs. It will be prohibited in the EU to tether dogs for long periods, like keeping them on a chain most of the time. Estonia is ahead of the curve here: our law will prohibit this starting January 1, 2027.
In addition, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to propose a directive under which rape would be defined uniformly across all EU countries, and this definition would be based on the absence of consent.
Of course, we didn’t just sit in the chamber pressing buttons all the time. On Monday evening, at a meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), I asked European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib what she thought about the opposition to the Pay Transparency Directive. Judging by Lahbib’s response, the European Commission has no intention of agreeing with the Estonian government, granting us a delay, or reworking the directive.
On Tuesday, I met with the organizers of a conference to be held in Riga on May 8. This conference is intended for the third sector, the speakers will discuss how NGOs can operate within the European context. I will be one of the speakers.
Also on Tuesday, EU member states’ ambassadors in Brussels approved the long-awaited and extremely useful directive on the coordination of social security systems. I served as the shadow rapporteur on it. I discussed this, as well as the attacks by our politicians and media on President Karis, in the “Brussels Diary”, which I recorded on Thursday. On Wednesday, I presented this directive at a meeting of our Renew Europe faction.
Finally, on Thursday morning, the intergroup on mental health held a meeting. We mapped out our next steps in anticipation of the European Commission’s upcoming publication of a strategy in this area.
Photo: European Union 2025 EP Denis LOMME