What does Erakond Parempoolsed propose?

People who earn more should pay a higher rate of income tax.

Reasoning: It backs a flat income tax and wants to cut the rate for everyone from 22% to 18%; it opposes a progressive income tax.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

VAT on food should be cut, even if the state collects less money.

Reasoning: It opposes a reduced VAT rate on food: instead it wants to cut the standard VAT rate from 24% to 20%, which would also lower the tax on food, without exceptions.

Source: Parempoolsed: käibemaks peab langema 20 protsendile!, parempoolsed.ee, 30.03.2026, 30/03/2026.

The annual car tax should be abolished.

Reasoning: It wants to scrap the car tax, but its July 2026 fiscal plan only removes the registration fee in 2027 and sets no date for abolishing the annual tax.

Source: Parempoolsete rahandusplaan, parempoolsed.ee, 17.07.2026, 17/07/2026.

A tax on expensive property should be introduced so that taxes on work can be lowered.

Reasoning: It opposes wealth taxes: its principles say they should be neither raised nor newly introduced. To cut taxes on labour, it proposes cutting public spending.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

The standard VAT rate should be brought back down from 24%, even if public spending has to be cut.

Reasoning: It proposes cutting the standard VAT rate from 24% to 20% within one parliamentary term, paid for by freezing public spending at 2026 levels and cutting the public sector.

Source: Parempoolsete rahandusplaan, parempoolsed.ee, 17.07.2026, 17/07/2026.

To reduce the budget deficit, public spending should be cut rather than taxes raised.

Reasoning: It holds that the deficit must be closed through cuts, not tax rises, and proposes freezing public spending at 2026 levels until 2031.

Source: Parempoolsete rahandusplaan, parempoolsed.ee, 17.07.2026, 17/07/2026.

Pensions should rise faster, even if taxes have to go up to pay for it.

Reasoning: It opposes tax rises and wants to curb pension spending: while public spending is frozen, the automatic indexation of pensions should also be suspended.

Source: Parempoolsete rahandusplaan, parempoolsed.ee, 17.07.2026, 17/07/2026.

Families with three or more children should receive much larger benefits than families with one or two children.

Reasoning: It opposes much larger benefits for large families: its chair called them populist and inappropriate in 2026, and its 2023 manifesto says single parents rather than large families face the greater poverty risk.

Source: Lavly Perlingu kõne Parempoolsete volikogul, parempoolsed.ee, 14.03.2026, 14/03/2026.

Healthcare should rely more on people's own responsibility, for example through higher patient co-payments.

Reasoning: It wants more personal responsibility in healthcare: moderate co-payments under clear rules, a personal health account and a bigger role for private insurance, while protecting children, the elderly and the chronically ill.

Source: Parempoolsete tervishoiu programm, parempoolsed.ee, 06.08.2026, 06/08/2026.

University education should be free for all students.

Reasoning: It opposes free university education: it would replace it with partial tuition fees plus reformed student loans and grants, and its chair says free higher education is unsustainable.

Source: Parempoolsete juhtimiskava, parempoolsed.ee, 08.05.2025, 08/05/2025.

Estonia should keep defence spending at 5% of GDP or more, even if that means cuts in other areas.

Reasoning: It says defence spending must not fall below the agreed 5% of GDP while other public spending is frozen; as early as 2024 it exempted security from its proposed cuts.

Source: Parempoolsete rahandusplaan, parempoolsed.ee, 17.07.2026, 17/07/2026.

Estonia should keep giving Ukraine military aid worth at least 0.25% of GDP every year.

Reasoning: It supports continuing to arm Ukraine until the war ends and a long-term European agreement to do so, but none of its documents mentions the figure of 0.25% of GDP.

Source: Parempoolsete väärtusprogramm «Kaitseme vabadust!» (Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2024), parempoolsed.ee, 12/04/2024.

Women should also do compulsory military service.

Reasoning: It wants to extend compulsory military service to all citizens, including women; in 2026 its chair called for women's defence duty to be written into law.

Source: Lavly Perlingu kõne Parempoolsete volikogul, parempoolsed.ee, 14.03.2026, 14/03/2026.

Frozen Russian assets should be used to fund Ukraine.

Reasoning: Its 2023 manifesto says Russia must compensate Ukraine for the damage and pay reparations; its documents do not specifically address frozen Russian assets.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Kaitstud piiririik», parempoolsed.ee, 23/02/2023.

The EU should hand powers back to member states rather than take on new ones.

Reasoning: Its 2024 European election manifesto calls for fewer areas of European Commission intervention and for limiting the EU outside the single market, foreign and security policy and the rule of law.

Source: Parempoolsete väärtusprogramm «Kaitseme vabadust!» (Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2024), parempoolsed.ee, 12/04/2024.

The EU should be able to take foreign policy decisions by majority vote, without needing unanimity.

Reasoning: In 2023 it backed majority voting in foreign policy and crisis response; it would keep unanimity only for changing the EU's founding principles or extending its powers.

Source: Postimees, erakondade tabel «Kas föderaalne või rahvusriikide Euroopa?», 09.01.2023 (erakonna vastus), 09/01/2023.

Estonia should make it easier to hire workers from outside the EU when companies cannot find staff.

Reasoning: It wants to replace the immigration quota with a points system so firms can recruit the workers they need, but requires strict Estonian-language learning and would limit migration from some countries.

Source: Parempoolsete rahvastikupoliitika plaan, parempoolsed.ee, 07.08.2026, 07/08/2026.

The annual immigration quota should not be increased.

Reasoning: It wants to scrap the annual immigration quota, which it sees as a brake on the economy, and replace it with a points system; in 2024 it called for bringing in over 10,000 skilled workers a year.

Source: Parempoolsete rahvastikupoliitika plaan, parempoolsed.ee, 07.08.2026, 07/08/2026.

All schooling should switch to Estonian by 2030, including in schools where most pupils speak Russian.

Reasoning: It firmly supports moving all teaching to Estonian and criticises Tallinn for letting 20 schools keep teaching in Russian; before 2023 its chair wanted the switch completed by 2027.

Source: Parempoolsed: Tallinna linnavalitsuse plaan võib seada ohtu 7000 noore tuleviku, parempoolsed.ee, 14.05.2026, 14/05/2026.

It should be easier for people who have lived in Estonia since before 1991 to obtain Estonian citizenship.

Reasoning: In 2023 it said it saw no need to simplify citizenship rules: citizenship policy should rest on preserving the nation state and on security, and the current rules offer enough options.

Source: ERR Valijakompass 2023, erakonna vastus (väide 14), 05/03/2023.

People who work with customers should be required to speak Estonian, with higher fines if they do not.

Reasoning: Its 2023 manifesto says private-sector services must also be provided in Estonian, at least at the level the job requires; it does not mention higher fines.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Positiivne rahvuslus», parempoolsed.ee, 26/02/2023.

Churches in Estonia should be required to cut their ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Estonian citizens should be allowed to also hold the citizenship of another EU or NATO country.

Estonia should build a nuclear power plant.

Reasoning: It sees a nuclear plant as essential baseload power; the state should immediately create the legal framework and regulator so the private sector can build new-generation small reactors.

Source: Parempoolsete taskukohase energia programm, parempoolsed.ee, 12.09.2026, 12/09/2026.

Estonia should keep producing electricity from oil shale in the long term.

Reasoning: It would keep oil-shale plants as a strategic reserve until new dispatchable capacity arrives and opposes closing them to political deadlines; in 2025 it called for scrapping the plan to end oil shale by 2035.

Source: Parempoolsete taskukohase energia programm, parempoolsed.ee, 12.09.2026, 12/09/2026.

Estonia should pass a climate law with binding targets for cutting emissions.

Reasoning: It wants the climate law not to be passed, the Climate Ministry closed and EU climate targets renegotiated; in 2026 it proposes repealing the statutory renewable-energy targets.

Source: Parempoolsete juhtimiskava, parempoolsed.ee, 08.05.2025, 08/05/2025.

More wind farms should be built on land, even if local residents oppose them.

Reasoning: It prioritises building onshore wind farms and wants permit procedures cut from years to months; its chair says energy projects need support in the fight against NIMBYism.

Source: Parempoolsete taskukohase energia programm, parempoolsed.ee, 12.09.2026, 12/09/2026.

The amount of forest felled in Estonia each year should be reduced.

Reasoning: It defends commercial use of forests and protecting landowners from unfounded restrictions; its 2023 manifesto keeps 30% of forests under stricter protection. It does not propose felling less.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

The Constitution should define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Reasoning: Its principles say the state should not give guidance on family life and the Constitution should not be opened hastily; in 2023 it allowed a free vote on same-sex couples.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

Access to abortion in Estonia should be restricted.

Reasoning: In 2023 it fully opposed restricting abortion, citing its principle that the state should not guide private and family life; in 2026 it stresses that everyone makes their own choices.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

Tougher punishments reduce crime more than prevention and rehabilitation do.

Reasoning: Its 2026 internal security programme combines prevention (security standards, training, awareness) with tougher penalties for repeat property crimes; in 2023 it stressed offenders' right to a second chance.

Source: Parempoolsete siseturvalisuse programm, parempoolsed.ee, 06.08.2026, 06/08/2026.

Euthanasia should be allowed for terminally ill people who ask for it.

Inciting hatred against a group of people should be punished more severely.

Reasoning: It opposes further hate-speech rules: it says hate speech is already a crime and needs no extra regulation, and political debate must not be criminalised; it does want tougher penalties for defamation.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Positiivne rahvuslus», parempoolsed.ee, 26/02/2023.

Internet voting should be kept in elections.

Reasoning: Its 2023 manifesto supports internet voting and calls for continuously developing its capacity and security to make taking part in elections easier.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Positiivne rahvuslus», parempoolsed.ee, 26/02/2023.

The President of the Republic should be elected directly by the citizens.

Reasoning: It opposes direct election of the president: its 2023 manifesto defends the parliamentary system and does not support opening the Constitution to change it.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Positiivne rahvuslus», parempoolsed.ee, 26/02/2023.

Citizens should be able to trigger a binding referendum by collecting signatures.

Reasoning: It opposes binding citizen-initiated referendums: its 2023 manifesto does not support introducing popular initiatives and prefers strengthening representative democracy.

Source: Parempoolsete valimisprogramm 2023, peatükk «Positiivne rahvuslus», parempoolsed.ee, 26/02/2023.

The state should keep small village schools open even if they have few pupils.

Reasoning: It wants school owners (usually municipalities) to decide the school network, with education quality as the only criterion, not buildings; in 2026 its chair questioned whether the current network is optimal.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.

Public transport should be free throughout Estonia.

Reasoning: It opposes free public transport: its principles say it should be avoided as it distorts the market, and its 2023 manifesto proposed scrapping it and offering discounts only to those in need.

Source: Parempoolsete maailmavaate alused (põhimõtted), parempoolsed.ee, muudetud 31.08.2026, 31/08/2026.