The next five years will be crucial. Public finances should come out of huge deficits, and the lesson from the previous crisis is clear. Tax increases will never be temporary. Pulling the tax brake can serve as an additional “austerity” argument in the discussion on lowering the deficit.
Berlin’s recently introduced rent control policy is Germany’s single most stringent rent regulation tool. The law prohibits any rental increases for a period of five years. In the case of new rentals, the rent a landlord is allowed to charge is determined by fixed reference values based on the age and fittings of the unit in question.
The regulatory framework of the right to peaceful assembly in Hungary was radically reshaped by a new law enacted in October 2018 by the Parliament where the governing party holds a qualified majority enabling it to modify laws in accordance with its political will.
Poland has one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws, yet the government hopes to reduce healthcare provision for women even more by criminalizing abortions in cases of severe fetal abnormalities.
The decision to remove an old statue of Soviet Marshall Koněv from a square in Prague has led to a chain of very unlikely international incidents, culminating in direct intimidation of political representatives of a member of both the EU and NATO.
Oman started 2020 off on the right foot when it comes to economic freedom. A new Foreign Capital Investment Law (FCIL) came into force to visibly lower barriers to foreign investment in the Sultanate. The crucial change is that 100% foreign ownership is now possible in Oman.
The football business shows well how underestimating a well-performing and efficient player can bring other costs. The player may either simply leave for another team, or, if restricted with a contract – underperform to the level only required by the payment.
The longer bad blood is circulating in the body, the sicker we get. The same applies to judiciary. The longer we allow politicians to control the courts, to appoint judges, pressure them, the more difficult healing the judiciary will get.
The administrative burden has decreased by one working day or 8 hours compared to last year, shows the 2019 Bureaucracy Index published by the Institute of Economic and Social Studies in cooperation with the Lithuanian Free Market Institute.
In mid-June, hundreds of thousands of Czechs took to the streets of Prague calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in light of both a criminal investigation in the Czech Republic over alleged fraud, and an EU investigation over the abuse of EU funds by his Agrofert conglomerate.
