Despite this, as many as 64% of Slovak companies are optimistic about their future prospects in the Single Market. These conclusions were also confirmed in a survey of the Institute of Slovak and World Economy of the SAS. 30-40% of the total number of surveyed companies expect improvement and 40-60% continuation of the current situation. They expect substantial improvement in the possibilities of gaining access to investment resources and operational credits and better access to the capital market. It is apparent that, to a great extent, these unrealistic expectations and the underestimation of the importance of preparation result from the insufficient availability of information to companies about the areas in which they will have to adapt to the conditions in the EU, including the implementation of EU standards and regulations. These characteristics can present a relatively great risk in that the presumptions on which the integration effects are based will not be sufficiently fulfilled. Enterprises will be the element of the Slovak economy that will have the greatest impact on how quickly the gap between Slovakia's and the EU's competitiveness is reduced and on progress in the real convergence to the EU. Budgetary effects

Important effects of Slovakia's accession to the EU are associated with budgetary effects, which will be influenced by the application of the principle of cohesion, provision of structural assistance, co-financing of assistance, payment of a contribution to the EU common budget, payment of a larger section of import duty revenues to the EU budget, new position of the state budget in respect of agriculture, and so forth. The revenue side of the state budget will be influenced particularly by the process of tax harmonisation, which will concern mainly indirect taxes, i.e. value added tax and excise duties, but will also be reflected in the area of direct taxes. The key goal of tax harmonisation is to significantly restrict tax competition between member states. The role of VAT revenues for member states' budgets varies - the EU average for the standard VAT rate is around 21% and 5-10% for the reduced rate. Therefore, for the time being the European Union's goal will not be to completely unify the VAT rates, which should be neutral in principle, but to achieve a narrow VAT range (15-25%). This naturally means that compared with the current rates in Slovakia (10% and 23%), the average of these rates should increase by around 5 percentage points after accession to the EU.

This is a relatively high increase that will be reflected in state budget revenues, but will simultaneously cause a rise in the price level. This means that the VAT harmonisation will result in higher state budget revenues and a higher price level, which will thus be partially brought into line with the EU average. The rise in prices will have a negative impact on consumers, therefore its optimal timing should be considered. This rise in prices will be probably reflected in development in nominal wages, pensions, social benefits, and so forth. Another area where harmonisation is expected is excise duties, the amount of which should increase by around 20%. The effects of excise duties harmonisation will be similar to the effects of VAT harmonisation. In the area of direct taxes, the tax burden on both natural persons and legal entities should be gradually reduced, which can be reflected in a certain decline in tax revenues. The aggregate effect of the future tax harmonisation (rise in revenues from indirect taxes and decline in revenues from direct taxes) should be beneficial for the Slovak state budget as well as for the co-financing of structural projects. However, the decrease in direct taxes can be a stimulus for the development of the economy's supply side (introduction of modern technologies, product innovations, etc.). An important benefit of Slovakia's accession to the EU will be the EU's assistance provided via structural funds and the Cohesion Fund.