Our traditional flagship project – Study and Reports on the VAT Gap in the EU-28 Member States – was enriched by the forecast of the potential impacts of the coronavirus crisis and resulting recession on the evolution of the VAT Gap in 2020. Within the project performed for the National Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Polish experience of decentralization and modernization of the regions for Georgia and Armenia, the role of local governments in mitigating threats to human security caused by the pandemic was presented.
Several new projects implemented within the region of the Mediterranean partner countries covered the topic of COVID-related financial assistance for economic recovery in the region. The study for the European Parliament, on the other hand, provided in-depth analysis of what social impact investment might bring in terms of achieving the SDGs (Social Development Goals) in Europe, especially in the post-COVID reality.
CASE publications and events were also closely related with the post-pandemic future. In one CASE policy brief, written by Professor Andrzej Rzonca, the author considered the diverse paths of the post-pandemic recovery of the Polish economy. In turn, Thomas Marmefelt examined the current developments of monetary and fiscal policy as responses to the COVID19 pandemic and the consequences of the policies for the future.
Within CASE events, during our regular edition of CASE’s Tax Workshops – this time devoted to the taxation of wealth – a discussion was undertaken about how the recent pandemic and the current crises will drive an increase in income inequality, in turn providing incentives for the higher taxation of wealth in Poland. Also, the mBank-CASE seminar series, organized regularly four times a year, contributed to the understanding of the new post-COVID reality. For example, during the 166th mBank-CASE seminar entitled: Will the pandemic reshape globalization? the thesis was posed that the pandemic might be a relevant factor affecting the growth of isolationism and may lead to a slowdown in international cooperation.
