Economy

Finding a Slovak politician willing to comment on the new EU budget proposal is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, the topic dominating the news these days is more whether the Commission might halt the money pipeline over resolutions from the European Parliament. Yet, a meeting in Brussels has since taken place that could well decide the budget\'s fate.

Two world-renowned economists, Stiglitz and Piketty, have come out of the closet. They have admitted to the world that they are degrowthers. Writing in The Guardian, they argue that \"economic growth is a doomed strategy.\"

In recent years, Slovakia has been engaged in a debate about being \"stuck in the middle-income trap,\" about having \"exhausted our growth model,\" and about the need to move \"from assembly line to brain gain.\" This debate matters. The trouble is that its vocabulary tempts us into a far too mechanical view of prosperity. Let me explain what I mean.

Bulgaria is about to enter the excessive deficit procedure for the second time in its recent history. At present, all expectations are focused on the government, which must propose a regular budget for 2026 and give a clear signal that it is reversing the trajectory of public finances.

The new government in Bulgaria is proposing a budget with a deficit of 5.7% of GDP, or EUR 7.2 billion. And this is happening in the country with the lowest unemployment in the European Union — the lowest since records began.

In general, no tax should be considered in isolation, which is why the taxation of individuals\' income must be aligned with the taxation of companies\' income, i.e., corporate tax. Put most simply, the system should tax similar activities and income in the same way, rather than allowing arbitrage/tax avoidance based solely on legal form.

More than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian businesses continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Yet, the results of the latest New Monthly Enterprises Survey (NRES), conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) in May 2026, suggest that signs of a slower economic recovery are becoming increasingly visible.

An institution is never only a norm. It is also the extent to which people are willing to treat that norm as binding — and the methods they reach for when they are not.

Even in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian businesses continue to view the customs system more positively than negatively. Yet, the latest survey of exporters and importers suggests that the focus of reform is changing.

Bureaucracy Index is a simple and transparent way to quantify the proverbial \"red tape\" — discussed daily in the media, yet rarely measured in concrete terms. It was introduced in 2016 in Slovakia by the Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS), with the goal of comprehensively mapping the bureaucratic burden facing SMEs and its real cost in time and money.