reform

The Hungarian education system is in an alarming state. Since the regime change in 1990, many both left-wing and right-wing governments tried to reform education; however, neither of those were successful.

In the last weeks, we saw debates between the state and the municipalities, which discussed options to increase the resources for local development, but once again these evolved in the direction of centralized solutions.

The tax system should not be used to implement social policy objectives. The tax system should be purely a mechanism that collects from citizens and companies, in the least distortionary way, the least amount of money necessary for the functioning of the state, the financing of its obligations and its policies.

“More free market or more government? How to strengthen post-pandemic recovery?”. It was the title of a panel hosted by the FOR during the Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland, the largest conference of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. The panel was supported by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Agata Stremecka, President of FOR, moderated the discussion.

Just a few weeks ago IME presented the main challenges to social protection faced by Bulgaria in the post-pandemic period. One of the key takeaways was that Bulgarian social policy is unfocused, ineffective and that it flat out fails to address poverty and inequality. While such issues are mainly solved through economic recovery, new jobs and wage growth, the role of social policy should be focused as much as possible on those most in need.

So far, the COVID-19 pandemic has had little effect on the German housing market. It has left barely a mark on real estate prices or rentals. But the pandemic is not over yet, and even if it was: the past months have triggered some developments that will transform our working world and are likely to have a considerable impact on the housing market in the long term.

Since coming into power by an overall majority in 2015, the right-wing Christian-nationalist PiS party has engaged in a systematic effort to weaken and destabilize independent media critical of the government, creating a severe concern for political and cultural media diversity in Poland.

Civil Development Forum (FOR) presents the fourth report on the crisis of the rule of law in Poland. This part deals with the restoration of the rule of law, reversal of Law and Justice’s policies and reforms of the justice system that are needed in the future.

The necessity of a reformed Hungarian higher education system became clear in the 2000s: after the regime change in 1990, the number of higher education students was increasing heavily, which decreased the quality of higher education and the value of university diplomas.

Lithuania’s tax system is ranked the sixth most competitive and neutral in the OECD according to the Tax Foundation’s International Tax Competitiveness Index 2020 which was released on October 15.