Labor market

1) Smart management of hiring from abroad
– NERV proposes to reduce administrative and other obstacles to the work-motivated arrival of foreigners in the Czech Republic. At the same time, employers should have greater responsibility for the integration of the foreigners they employ.

2) Increasing the proportion of international students to compensate for demographic decline
– NERV proposes to shorten the visa process for students from abroad and simplify the process of recognizing their secondary education. At the same time, the recognition of foreign education of Czech students should be facilitated.

3) Health prevention
– NERV proposes to increase spending on health prevention, to financially motivate people to do so, and to adjust the excise taxation of vices. The aim is to improve the health of the population and thus the availability and productivity of the workforce.

4) Reduction of the scope and rate of certification of professions
– NERV proposes to carry out an audit of the requirements imposed on individual professions and to revise them so as not to limit competition by not having enough people to practice the profession.

5) Reduction of the number of people in over-indebtedness and the related shadow economy
– According to the NERV, debt relief must be more accessible, shorter and more individualized. At the same time, the state should push for the legalization of income and the return of people from the shadow economy.

6) Benefit and social system motivating work and use of human capital
– According to the NERV, the benefit system needs to be adjusted so that poorer households lose benefits as little as possible when increasing their income from work, and to eliminate situations where earnings lead to a decrease in total income or increase pressure for retraining.

7) Reduce levies on low wages and compensate for this with other taxation
– The NERV proposes to reduce social security or health insurance contributions for low wages, while ensuring that this change does not lead to a reduction in the calculated pension in the future. The shortfall in state revenues should be compensated by increasing other taxes, such as excise duties or higher taxes on capital income.

8) Reduction of the extremely high number of prisoners and high recidivism rates
– The NERV proposes to reduce the number of prisoners, make more use of so-called bracelets and involve the released in the official economy.

9) Increasing the chances of a more successful life for children after leaving children's homes
– NERV recommends supporting families so that children are almost not taken away. Institutional care for children should be brought as close as possible to the family environment and, after leaving it, prevent them from falling into need of housing and provide social support and counselling to young adults.

10) Modernization of the Labour Code as a driver of the labour market
– According to the NERV, the Labour Code needs to be modernised in the light of the evolving needs of the market. The NERV proposes greater flexibility in the recruitment and dismissal of employees, including possible dismissals without giving a reason.

Education

11) Comprehensive steps to improve the quality of regional education

– NERV calls for faster implementation of the Strategy 2030+.

12) Increase the employment of parents through a better system of family support
– The NERV proposes to shorten the maximum period of parental leave from four to three years and to allow free rotation of parents. It also recommends introducing an obligation for municipalities to provide a place in a nursery school for a child from the day he or she reaches the age of three.

13) Ensure universal availability of early childhood education and care facilities
– NERV proposes to complete the construction of pre-school facilities in localities where there is no pre-school facility.

14) Reduction of the high proportion of postponed school enrolment
– According to the NERV, systemic measures need to be taken to change the trend of increasing postponements of school attendance.

15) Streamlining the internal and external management of public higher education institutions
– The NERV proposes to change the system of financing the educational activities of higher education institutions, to introduce a system of refundable student grants and to gradually introduce regulated tuition fees.

16) Modernization of the system of financial support for university students
– The NERV proposes to introduce reimbursable student grants, which will be repaid only after graduation from university in the form of an additional income tax rate.

17) Reducing the number of people with educational dropouts
– According to the NERV, systemic measures need to be put in place to stop people leaving the education system prematurely, which reduces labour productivity.

18) Reducing systemic barriers to women's employment in science, management and politics
– According to the NERV, a more balanced representation of women will make it possible to make better use of the country's human resources. Institutional barriers and prejudices that prevent women from being more represented need to be removed.

19) "Sector Councils" as a tool for higher competitiveness of companies
– The NERV proposes the creation of sector councils to support continuing professional education and labour market development.

Administration

20) Process audits at ministries
– NERV proposes to carry out an audit of processes and agendas at ministries, which will streamline decision-making and bring savings.

21) Monitoring and evaluation of subsidy titles and subsidies for the purposes of more effective management
– According to the NERV, it is necessary to interconnect information systems containing data on subsidies, to analyse subsidy titles and to assess alternative financial instruments to subsidies.

22) Reform of decentralized self-government
– According to the NERV, it is necessary to strive to increase the market power of municipalities by associating them into communities in decision-making, and the role of municipalities with extended powers should be strengthened.

23) Rationalization of the structure and activities of departmental research institutes
– According to the NERV, it is necessary to examine the quality of research institutes and assess whether the services of some departmental research institutes cannot be replaced by the services of universities or the Academy of Sciences.

24) Let's introduce a single collection point for taxes, social security and health insurance
– NERV sees the possibility of savings by unifying the collection of taxes and mandatory contributions, which are now independently collected by the Financial Administration of the Czech Republic, the Czech Social Security Administration and health insurance companies.

25) More effective regulation of firms in network industries with limited competition
– According to the NERV, the quality of regulation in this area has reserves, and it recommends the development of analytical capacities of regulatory authorities.

26) Radical reduction of permitting periods
– NERV proposes to examine the process of the twenty most common types of permitting procedures and to take steps to simplify them, which would increase the attractiveness of the Czech economy for investment.

Housing

27) Changes to selected laws leading to the acceleration of individual and commercial construction
– NERV is proposing to amend eight laws that would speed up construction and thus increase the availability of housing.

28) Bringing construction standards to the level of Western countries and leaving more responsibility to people
– According to the NERV, it is necessary to examine whether all the standards currently applied are necessary and do not have more costs than benefits.
Investment

29) Let's support the use of more than CZK 360 billion lying in municipal accounts for necessary investments
– According to the NERV, the state should support the use of funds in the accounts of municipalities for investments and regional development.

30) Involvement of regions in infrastructure financing
– According to the NERV, regions should participate in strategic projects, especially in strategic line constructions. At the same time, NERV argues that the regions have around CZK 110 billion in their accounts and are little indebted.

31) More productive use of funds in the third pension pillar
- The NERV proposes that pension funds should be involved in the financing of infrastructure PPP projects.

32) Capital market
– According to NERV, the domestic capital market is facing problems in supply and demand, which makes it difficult to finance companies. NERV proposes inspiration abroad, for example in Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta, to strengthen the capital market.

33) To make it easier for companies with their own investments in science and research to deduct tax deductions and thus motivate them to be more competitive
– NERV assumes that facilitating such depreciation increases the potential of the Czech economy.

34) Accelerating investments in transport infrastructure through PPP
– According to NERV, the Czech Republic is lagging behind in the construction of motorway and railway infrastructure. PPP projects can reverse the lag without placing increased demands on the state's debt.

35) Improving the state's preparedness for the green economy
– According to the NERV, there is a need to define a clear national strategy and follow-up sectoral strategies until 2050 for the decarbonisation of the economy, digitalisation and innovation, biodiversity, pollution, and waste and water management.

36) Oppose efforts to promote economic protectionism through EU structures
– NERV recommends that the EU government strive for rules that would allow the Czech Republic to import new technologies as a source of innovation and at the same time maintain the export potential for Czech goods and services.

(37) Optimising the possibilities for using EU funding; A robust role for the National Development Bank
– NERV proposes the creation of a platform that would work systematically with all European financial programmes. At the same time, the National Development Bank should have more capital to support the economy.

(translated from the Czech source)