The COVID-19 crisis has tested our healthcare, economies, our way of living and working together. Thanks to the swift reactions to the pandemic with the introduction of strict confinement measures, together with the remarkable wave of public solidarity and discipline, Slovakia is among the most successful countries in terms of fatalities.
While the pandemic has hit all Member States, economic consequences differ. According to the European Commission forecast, Slovakia's economy should contract sharply by 6.7% this year, but it should recover and grow by 6.6% in 2021. In addition, the crisis has revealed and enhanced structural weaknesses of the economy. In its regular country assessment published before the pandemic, the Commission pointed out that Slovakia had not taken advantage of the good times and was lagging behind in areas essential for further prosperity, such as the quality of public administration, education, research, innovation and green and digital transformation.