22 Mar

Visegrad Group not convinced by new EU climate targets

In February this year the European Commission presented new EU targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. How do the Visegrad Group countries assess the Commission's proposal?

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V4 ministers consider digitalisation one of the most significant development of the economy since the industrial revolution. [Pixabay]

European union Member states have scrapped a Commission's plan to establish a system to tax internet giants like Google or Facebook. In a bid to break a deadlock, EU executive arm have called for a move to a qualified majority voting on tax issues. The V4 countries, however, clearly reject to kill national vetoes on tax policy. Their governments are now likely to bring in their own national digital tax laws.

Robert Dúbravec - Power conciousness, 1957. [WebUmenia.sk/Stredoslovenská galéria]

Although the Visegrad Group’s members are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the collapse of communist dictatorships this year, multilevel EU procedures are ongoing against Hungary and Poland for rule of law deficiencies. According to the assessment of global democracy indexes, the quality of democratic governance fell considerably in the most eminent students of the democratic transition, while political and civil rights have also been restricted.

Czechoslovak Consul typewriter. [Wikimedia/Commons]

Member states, the European Parliament and the Commission successfully finished almost three years of negotiation on a copyright reform. The clashes were concerned primary to articles 11 and 13. Stances of the states differed a lot and the Visegrad countries were not an exception. 

Illustration picture [TASR]

Although there basically isn’t anything like a specific chapter of V4-Turkey relations, all the five countries realize the importance of trade cooperation and strategic support. Yet, after Erdoğan tightened his grip to achieve even more power, Visegrad countries prefer to coordinate their positions on issues regarding human rights and civil society via Brussels.

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