the Czech Republic

The Visegrad Cooperation within the European Union is a regional organization of four Central European member states: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The cooperation aims to jointly represent the economic, diplomatic, and political interests of these countries and coordinate their possible actions. All four member states joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. 

The Czech Republic celebrated a major anniversary on May 1 this year. Exactly twenty years ago on this day, the Czech Republic joined the European Union, and thus became part of the Single European Market. Apart from the political implications, joining the EU had major economic consequences. These are the ones we are going to look at now.

Few things stir the public sphere as much as the controversial subject of the adoption of the euro in the Czech Republic. Although one side of the debate always vehemently puts forward arguments in favor of adopting the single currency, while the other side points out the unmissable pitfalls of the euro, one crucial economic argument seems to be continually neglected.

In a comparison of seven European countries, a new study by the CETA shows the Czech Republic to be the second most successful in applying a risk reduction approach to its tobacco policy.

There are undoubtedly many factors that determine how individual governments dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one of the main aspects that has determined the success of mitigating the health impacts of the pandemic is the level of public trust in government institutions, as noted in numerous scientific publications.

As life-expectancy has increased during the past decades, governments around the world are trying to figure out a sustainable retirement-income regime. These regimes vary significantly around the world.

Refugee policy has gained momentum. In the run-up to the EU summit, the EU Commission wants to accommodate the representatives of the Central European countries of the Visegrad Group (V4): “Flexible solidarity” is the motto.

The Czech parliament has approved the establishment of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on hybrid threats. This expert platform will be dedicated to monitoring influence operations and issuing recommendations to Parliament.

The Czech government banned manufacturers to sell respirators and masks to anyone but the legal entities established by the state. Public hospitals are NOT legal entities established by the state in the Czech Republic. Ouch.

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.