Slovakia

Riding on the wave of historical fear, Slovak government quickly came up with a new protective law. In general, it forbids any agricultural landowner to sell land (2000 square meters and more) freely to just anyone. The willing seller has to actively search for an interested local farmer and offer him the land for “usual” price first.

We have the pleasure the present you the third of the series of our policy papers that we will be publishing in the near future. The publication discusses the issue of Internal Market and the EU-Russia Sanctions and examines experience of Visegrad Countries one year on. Enjoy your reading!

In the last five years, Piraeus Bank has lost 97% of its value and Eurobank (indeed, an apt name) an astounding 99.8% of the value. Their market value is currently five times lower that the market value of the Uber company. However, the Stock Exchange has not reached the historic low of the year 2012.

Lack of jobs remains the key problem of the Slovak economy despite the currently declining unemployment rate. Government policies keep coming up with new labour market measures but these often prove ineffective, generating only temporary jobs by selectively supporting chosen jobseekers.

Just like every year, INESS released the Bill for Government services few days ago. Although such information should be ideally provided by the government itself, Slovak government is somewhat reluctant to inform the society on costs of the functioning of the state. This is precisely why INESS decided to take up this task.

The real problem of the minimum wage concerns a very different group of people. Yet you will not see these people in newspapers or TV and they are not part of government negotiations at all. They are the unemployed people. Hence, what economists argue as some “redistribution problems” between employers and employees is not at the core of issues with minimum wage.

We have the pleasure the present you the second of the series of our policy papers that we will be publishing in the near future. The publication discusses the issue of Gold-plating - the process where an EU directive is given additional powers when being transposed into the national laws of member states. Enjoy your reading!

Is there a difference between a starting entrepreneur and a disabled person? Yes, there is, and it\'s a big one. A disabled person has much fewer options if he or she wants to get a government aid compared to a starting entrepreneur. I remembered this joke when I was reading one of the government strategies. But the joke may soon become a reality if the government decides to implement it. And that\'s not funny at all.

Gold-plating is a term that describes the process where an EU directive is given additional powers when being transposed into the national laws of member states - a quite common approach in any EU state. The seminar will reflect upon this issue and give an overview of positive approaches on how successful EU countries deal with the problem and what kind of procedures they have implemented. Join F.A.Hayek Foundation on May 6, 2015 in Bratislava!

Free Market Road Show 2015 has visited Bratislava, Slovakia on April 14, 2015. The event organized by INESS in cooperation with Austrian Economics Center was a part of the unique conference tour that visits 36 cities around Europe and Caucasus from April till May.