government

Business in Ukraine is slowly recovering from the economic crisis that hit the country several years ago. Entrepreneurs have little trust to the government but plan to speed up their growth and want the authorities to provide fair and favorable conditions for businesses.

The Ministry of Finance proposed to reform customs in Ukraine with the aim of better transparency and predictability. The model of the reform and changes in custom procedures is currently debated between the Ministry of Finance and the representatives of the Parliament and civil society. The reform will hopefully be implemented by the end of 2017.

Despite the craziness of the whole situation, this affair should not be underestimated. Given the escalating relations between Russia and Poland, it is not a very wise move for Warsaw to open another battlefront with Germany. If Poland should hold its positions against Russia, it needs as many strong allies as it can get.

Poles do not know how much and on what the Polish state spends their money. Meanwhile, the structure and size of public spending have a direct impact on their daily lives by influencing the level of taxation and the availability of public services.

For over three decades, the position of the Constitutional Tribunal seemed to be solidly grounded in the Polish institutional landscape and the pluralistic public discourse. However, with the recent demolition of the Tribunal, we are faced with an end of an era.

In some countries (including Poland) parental leave can be fully flexibly divided between both parents. This sounds great, but in reality reinforces gender inequality. Therefore, the Commission has recently proposed the parental leave to become an individual right for mothers and fathers without a transfer of the four months to the other parent.

The government in Warsaw is considered to be one of the most conservative in the EU. In the country with practically no regulations for LGBT+ community, Law and Justice – the ruling party – manages to find the way to limit their rights even further.

Last Tuesday, the minister said in the parliament that UNESCO “illegally” added the Polish Białowieża primeval forest to the World Heritage list (sic!). Luckily, Polish activists and the friends of the Białowieża forest from all over the world are still fighting.

This should be the first commandment of every regulator. Or at the very least, forbidding should not be their first step. All over the world, many governments which have imposed a ban on sharing economy do not respect this rule. They shoot first and ask questions later.

We love our country — it’s the best country in the world — but the idea of an overseeing government that isn’t ours makes us feel like there’s something infringing on our Americanness. How does something like that happen, what are we scared of, and how can you reach across the divide if it starts happening in your country?