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Why did Slovakia rewrite the structure?
Jun
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Slovakia rewrites structure
Slovakia has rewritten its structure in response to fears over a possible “digital euro”.
The Slovak Parliament passed the proposed law, which enshrines recent legal rights to money payment, on June 15, in what has been described as a “preventative measure” to safeguard the country’s “financial sovereignty”.
Milo Svrek, who co-authored the bill, told MPs that the brand new laws would protect Slovakian businesses and consumers “against any orders from the surface, saying there can only be the ‘digital euro’ and no other payment options”.
The move by the European Union (EU) member state follows recent discussions by Brussels a few possible EU-wide Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) just like Nigeria’s ill-fated eNaira or the proposed “Britcoin” currently under consultation within the UK.
CBDC’s are viewed with suspicion by many civil rights’ campaigners, economists and experts, as our founder Jasmine has previously reported, not least due to there possible misuse by future authoritarian governments.
Unlike money or debit card payments, CBDCs are “programmable”, meaning a government or central bank is capable of place controls on what the ‘digital euro’, eNaira or Britcoin is spent on. CBDCs could also, theoretically, have expiry dates applied to them by central banks to make consumers spend money during a recession.
Contrary to some reports, the amendments to the Slovak structure is not going to give consumers the fitting to pay by money in shops.
Confusingly, the bill intends to each protect consumers’ rights to make use of money as a type of payment, while also enshrining store owners’ legal right to refuse money payments so as to safeguard business owners from “robberies and exposure to germs” amongst other things.
Low traffic neighbourhood successfully challenged
Campaigners in Warrington are celebrating the removal of anti-car barriers erected as a part of a controversial “low-traffic neighbourhood” scheme or LTN.
The removal of bollards within the Westy area of Warrington last week marks the second successful challenge of an LTN scheme within the Cheshire town, which closed several key roads in June 2022.
Like similar schemes elsewhere within the UK, the restrictions in Westy are claimed to have led to more congestion in the realm, with offended residents complaining of longer journeys and delays.
Warrington is considered one of quite a lot of councils to have trialed “low-traffic neighbourhoods”, “low-emission zones” or other anti-car measures lately.
The restrictions are sometimes promoted under the euphemism “15-minute cities”, a shorthand for the zoning of urban areas to limit free movement.
Under plans being introduced in Oxford, Bath and Canterbury, residents will face fines for steadily leaving their designated zone.
Other schemes to curb automotive use are being rolled out in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow amongst others.
On July 4, London Mayor Sadiq Khan will face a High Court showdown over his plans to expand the capital’s so-called Ultra Low-Emission Zone (Ulez), with five Conservative-run councils attempting to block the August expansion.
Meanwhile, last week a senior BBC news producer accused the state broadcaster of engaging in “collusion” with Khan to stifle criticism of his scheme. The whistleblower told the Reform UK part’s 2024 mayoral candidate, Howard Cox, that Khan had applied pressure on BBC bosses to curb reporting on the difficulty. The BBC has previously faced criticism for its inaccurate coverage on the Ulez expansion, quoting false statistics on the variety of cars prone to fall foul of the £12.50 each day charge.
Greater than 100 Ulez cameras been destroyed, damaged or stolen by campaigners against the expansion.
Imperial College London claims LTNs could lead on to a discount in asthma deaths, nonetheless the science behind such assertions is disputed. The London borough of Lewisham saw pollution levels rise after restrictions were put in place.
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