Central Europe ranks under the EU average in the market penetration of electric vehicles. But it doesn’t want to be left behind by the global trend, leaping into battery production and dreaming even bigger.

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.

The most often raised issue with SMEs in Hungary is that they are lagging behind larger firms and their western rivals in terms of productivity, which is the added value produced by a worker in a given timeframe. The low productivity, in turn, holds the entire Hungarian economy back.

Investing in people, public services and the business environment (including, crucially digital infrastructure) are appealing ways to achieve longer-term growth through making Hungarians and the Hungarian economy more productive. These types of policies respond to the challenges that were highlighted by the pandemic and can be helpful during the recovery but have the potential to spur further economic growth, writes Daniel Prinz. 

States implemented unprecedented measures restricting private life in response to the coronavirus pandemic, severely damaging entire economic sectors. In turn, governments introduced novel, high volume social and sectoral aid programs to mitigate the long-term negative effects of the crisis. The size and specifics of economic stimulus packages vary from country to country. Hungary also tried to carve its own path amidst this unprecedented crisis.

Since shocks cannot be avoided and are likely to occur more frequently in the future, it is crucial to strengthen economic resilience – “the ability of a country to withstand a shock and recover quickly to its potential [growth] after it falls into recession” – on national and regional levels.