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.
Poland, Latvia, and Estonia started their rainbow revolutions much later than the West – when Stonewell riots happened in NYC, all three countries were still deep in the communist regime with no hope for emancipation.
People can be divided into two groups: those for whom individual freedom is the most important value and the rest, for whom the freedom is not so important. I do not have any objection to the second group, but their position is simply unacceptable for, probably, the other way around.
On May 11, Lithuania celebrated its second National Respect for Taxpayers Day. This day became an official commemorative day in Lithuania following the adoption of a proposal from the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) in early 2018.
Under EU legislation, Member States are required to abolish any legal provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment and have to introduce measures that would facilitate getting legal remedies in cases of alleged violations of equal treatment.
On December 7, 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament had the day of Budget-2018. During one day, the Verkhovna Rada amended the Budget Code and Tax Code, as well as adopted the State Budget Law for 2018. The decisions were taken in a very non-transparent way with changes approved from the voice.
Now, the ruling party wants to get rid of the private enterprises from the emergency medical services. The regulations provided by the draft bill, currently proceeded by the Parliament, constitute a model example of a regulatory expropriation.
Numerous needed reforms and laws guaranteeing and protecting equal rights and freedoms have not been passed in Latvia due to lack of political will or poor public administration (or perhaps both). And in the era of the rise of populism, these advances seem more and more distant and unrealistic.
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.
The Czech Republic faces a huge challenge in the form of new waste economy legislation. Two regulations (waste law amendment and a new law concerning products with finished lifetime) are under an approval process at the Government Legislative Council (GLC).
