On Tuesday, the 3rd of December, members of the Saeima’s Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee agreed to postpone for nine months the State President’s already promulgated amendments to the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law that make Motor Third Party Vehicle Liability Insurance (MTPL) mandatory for all registered vehicles, including vehicles that see only seasonal use.
To ensure this, the committee will need to vote on new amendments this week. On top of that, the Saeima will need to pass them in two readings this week.
It is planned for amendments that put the previous amendments on hold to come into force on the 10th of December. These amendments will ensure the promulgated MTPL law amendments to come into force no sooner than the 31st of October 2025.
The committee agreed that the Cabinet of Ministers would have until the 31st of August to provide an assessment of whether the European Union directive has been transposed appropriately and does not provide for any deviations. Ministries and institutions involved are to prepare a solution within nine months so that the MTPL is not required to be purchased for vehicles that are not in motion or are used seasonally.
As previously reported, the amendments passed by the Saeima on the 14th of November to the MTPL law provide that the insurance must be purchased for all vehicles, unless their registration is temporarily suspended.
In accordance with the European Union directive, the Saeima adopted proposals directed by the Ministry of Finance for amendments to the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law, which provides for MTPL insurance for all vehicles that are registered, including those that participate in traffic seasonally. Amendments are to come into force on the 10th of December.
During the Saeima vote, amendments received support from the coalition and the opposition.
Amendments to the law were prepared by Saeima deputies Edmunds Zivtiņš, Edgars Tavars, Ramona Petraviča, Jānis Vitenbergs, Kristaps Krištopans, Didzis Šmits, Linda Liepiņa, Viktorija Pleškāne and Ilze Stobova.
Multiple opposition deputies later wrote on social media, after public outrage, that they didn’t understand or even know what they were voting for. For example, Andris Kulbergs apologized on X (formerly Twitter) for “missing the point”, shifting the blame on the Saeima’s Budget Committee even though he is not a member there. However, the proposals submitted to the law amendments show that he had submitted proposals for corrections in it. “Had I known that, I never would have voted for them,” Kulbergs claimed. Saeima deputy Didzis Šmits, too, apologized for voting for something he did not fully understand.