Articles

On August 10, the Slovak cabinet approved a series of changes to the COVID automat - an emotionally charged topic that had led to several anti-government protests in recent weeks. The new changes are due to come into force on August 16. They come after the last set of restrictions regarding the border regime was suspended by the Slovak Constitutional Court, giving the people who only got the 1st dose of vaccine the same rights as those who are unvaccinated.

The trial, which began on July 27, 2020 at the Vatican, is not just an investigation into the financial investments of the Secretariat of State in London. It is a \"hat\" under which a broader, international anti-corruption investigation lies. Moreover, the trial itself became known as the \"trial of the century\" before it even began.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected most areas of Ukrainian life. A study by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) found that during the pandemic, traditional methods of communication of civil society with the authorities have declined significantly, especially those involving face-to-face meetings. Instead, the tools of e-democracy became widespread.

The July issue of the 4liberty.eu Newsletter provides an overview of the articles published on the 4liberty.eu website, serving as a starting point for further exploration.

The startup ecosystem and its impact on Germany´s innovative culture and its economic success are important research and policy areas. FNF and the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e.V. collaborated to create the Migrant Founders Monitor 2021, which looks at the role of migrant founders in the German ecosystem.

After some initial doubts about the real intentions of this endeavour, Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest incorporated the 3SI into their portfolios of Central European cooperation formats in which they participate. Strong U.S. support for the project makes the initiative more attractive for its reluctant members.

There are few issues in Poland on which all major parties have been in agreement for years. One of them is Nord Stream 2. Successive governments have tried to stop the construction of the gas pipeline and none has succeeded. Instead of wringing hands, getting offended at the whole world and threatening to break alliances, it is essential to draw conclusions from this defeat. Let’s start with a few obvious ones.

After the recent protests against Slovak doctors and experts, the government has now become the latest target in a series of anti-vax/anti-pandemic measures protests. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Slovak parliament to voice their discontent with new pandemic measures.

Estonia, Latvia, and starting from this year Poland (partly) are taxing profits earned by companies only at the dividend payout time. Such a model promises to raise both domestic and foreign investment, and it can help the economy recover from the crisis more quickly. The opponents of this taxation system in Lithuania argue that various benefits, which alleviate the burden on business and encourage investment where it is most needed, are already in place.

The Ministry of Finance has undertaken a systematic review of tax benefits. This job will not be easy but it makes sense to look at tax benefits in difficult situations. At first glance, it might seem that there are not many tax benefits so they can be examined and sorted in one sitting. Sadly, this is not the case. There are many different benefits which are advantageous to some citizen groups but annoy the others.