Economy

The forthcoming heating season of October 2015–April 2016 may be the most challenging season for the Ukrainian energy sector since Ukraine’s independence. Each subsector of energy sector has its own challenges in addition to the general problems such as the military conflict in the East, currency depreciation, debt accumulation, and high inflation.

About PLN 60 billion in spending and (in the beast case scenario) PLN 10 billion in extra revenue. PLN 40 billion of deficit. It seems that Poland can go broke within the forthcoming year. The question is whether Law and Justice (PiS) intends to sink the country or maybe Beata Szydło’s cabinet is designed to withdraw from the promises and fail so that Jarosław Kaczyński may step in and save the day?

A need for deregulation in Poland is recognized by the vast majority of both experts and politicians. Calls for deregulation echo in subsequent election campaigns, though to little effect. So why, despite a seemingly broad consensus, deregulation in Poland remains a problem?

The European Commission has re-launched the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) initiative. The renewed proposal for a CCCTB introduces a two-step approach: efforts will first concentrate on agreeing the rules for a Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB), and consolidation will be left to be adopted at a later stage (CCCTB).

The fact that an abundant welfare system and a loosely regulated market are operated by the same government does not give proof to their harmonious existence and a beneficial impact of their supposed fusion. The latter is practically impossible.

In considering the extent to which the state should be relied upon to promote social cohesion and virtue, one must keep in mind the potential associated pitfalls as well as the other possible means to accomplish the same desired ends.

No-fee regulation will have its limits (they should prevent abusing of the cheap prices of cross-border calls), first proposals are very restrictive – the maximum 40 minutes of calls and 100 text messages per year from abroad. However, it is definitely one of the biggest intervention to the entrepreneurial freedom the European Union has seen.

The Centre for Economic and Market Analyses (CETA) found out the calculation of the social cost of gambling in the Czech Republic and the actual regulatory impact assessment (RIA) suffer from obvious shortcomings. Therefore, we decided to prepare five basic recommendations for the effective regulation of gambling in our country.

Slovakia is experiencing situation common to many European economies. The price of electric energy on the market is falling, so is the overall consumption of electricity. And yet, the final price for consumers, especially in the industrial sector, remains high.

Speaking of visions, the lack of consensus extends beyond politics. Many employers have been lobbying for more practical education, especially on the level of secondary schools. This has been opposed by most experts on education.