Survey: Reforms Are Mostly Needed in Business Environment and Judiciary

Bratislava, October 2 (TASR) - Entrepreneurs consider the systematic improvement of the business environment and the reform of the judiciary to be the most important reforms, according to a survey organised in the second half of September by the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS) and the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms (INEKO) among 105 entrepreneurs from all over Slovakia. According to the survey, entrepreneurs identified as a priority the systematic improvement of the business environment so that Slovakia can rise significantly in the international rankings and become a more attractive place for investment (average mark of 8.82 on a scale of 0 to 10). The second priority is the reform of the judiciary, in particular law enforcement, with the aim of a transparent, efficient and fair judiciary, the prosecutor's office, and thus the civil and criminal judiciary (8.65). The third priority should be a tax-levy reform in order to make the tax system more attractive for investments and to increase motivation to work. This means in particular a reduction in direct taxes and levies, a simplification of the system and compensation for income shortfalls through the abolition of tax exemptions, an increase in excise, property and environmental taxes (8.50). According to the survey, the fourth priority is reform of the state administration, including the electronic state administration, the reduction of red tape and the automatic sharing of information between authorities (8.27). The fifth priority should be a reform of health care provision, which aims at efficient, high-quality and affordable provision of health services (8.24). Of the expenditure that should be financed from the EU's Next Generation Fund (NGEU), they identified as the most important support for universities, science and research, as well as the construction and reconstruction of hospitals. am/mcs