Estonian parliamentary committee backs wider powers to counter drones

The Economic Affairs Committee of Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu, unanimously decided to propose putting an amendment bill to the Electronic Communications Act and related laws (1061 SE) on the agenda of the 18 November plenary sitting and completing its first reading. The bill extends the powers to restrict radio and mobile communications and clarifies when this may be done. The aim is to make countering drones easier.

Committee chair Marek Reinaas said the current rules no longer match the security situation and in particular limit the ability to fight drones. He said the right to use devices that restrict radio communications must be widened to ensure protection of the state's critical infrastructure, citing electrical substations, gas installations and fuel storage facilities as examples.

What would change

According to the explanatory memorandum, the current right to restrict radio communications is mostly tied to a specific area or site. The new wording proposes an approach allowing restrictions whenever necessary for an agency to carry out its tasks and remove a threat, regardless of where the threat arises. This would give agencies more flexible means of responding to the changing security situation.

The requirement remains that radio communications may only be restricted on the basis of a frequency permit issued by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority.

Currently, only the Defence Forces, prisons, the Police and Border Guard Board, internal security agencies, security authorities, and security guards and their managers may use such devices for public order and national security purposes. The new law would add the Defence League (Kaitseliit), Estonia's voluntary defence organisation, to this list.

Training and testing

The memorandum stresses the need to make the training of counter-drone specialists more effective. For this, the right to restrict radio communications should be given to educational institutions: the Estonian Aviation Academy, the Academy of Internal Security and the Defence Forces academy.

Several Estonian companies develop and manufacture drones or devices for restricting radio communications. They need to be able to test their products, including when radio communication is not working, so a legal basis for restricting radio communications for testing purposes is required.

Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta also took part in the committee session.