Social protection in Europe 1997

Directorate-General For Employment Social Affairs And Inclusion European Commission

Description

Social protection and social security

Sujets

• Comparison
• Social security
• Member state of the European Union

Informations

• Publié par: DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-EMPLOYMENT_SOCIAL-AFFAIRS-AND-INCLUSION-EUROPEAN-COMMISS
• Nombre de lectures: 68
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 31 Mo

Extrait

Social protection in Europe 1997
tss&
Employment Sc social affairs Social Protection in Europe 1997
Employment & social affairs
Social security and social integration
European Commission
Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations
and Social Affairs
Unit V/E.2
Manuscript completed in April 1998 The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the European
Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs.
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1998
ISBN 92-828-4248-7
© European Communities, 1998
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Italy
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER Foreword
Foreword
disappearing. We only have to look important. From the start it was under­Social protection systems continue to
provide the bulk of expenditure on so­ about us to see that this world has stood that our social protection sys-
cial support, health care and pensions moved on and we must move with it. tems had to become more
in the Member States of the EU and to Social protection systems face new 'employment-friendly'. This report
play a fundamental role in ensuring challenges as a direct result of demo­ analyses what this means in practice.
income redistribution and social cohe­ graphic change and the massive rise
sion. They also help to maintain politi­ and persistence of long-term unem­ The report examines the changes to the
cal stability and economic progress in ployment in our economies. Reform is scale, pattern, growth and funding of
the lives of citizens of the Union. an issue that cannot be ducked. social expenditure. It describes how
social expenditure remains one of the
major weapons in the fight against As pointed out in the Commission This is our third report on social pro­
poverty and exclusion even while so­Communication on Modernising and tection in Europe. As in the previous
cial protection systems are adapted Improving Social Protection (March two reports, we are continuing to
better to fit the needs of the modem 1997) EU expenditure on social pro­ monitor how Member States are meet­
labour market. Most important of all, tection — currently running at an aver­ ing the new realities which are replac­
it logs the major policy developments age of 28.5% of GDP — should be ing the old assumptions. The 1993
in social protection taking place as seen not as a financial burden but rather report was a first signal of the serious­
more emphasis is placed on the incen­as an investment in human resources ness with which these issues were be­
tive to work, as we seek to make the and as a form of insurance which pro­ ginning to be felt by Member States. In
European work force more em­vides the security necessary to the suc­ 1995 the debate sharpened with the
ployable and more adaptable, as com­cessful functioning of increasingly emergence of the Commission's
petitive pressures on businesses flexible labour markets. Social protec­ Framework for Debate on the Future
increase and as people in Europe get tion is a productive factor which con­ of Social Protection. This third report
older. The policy issues associated tributes to economic growth and has been produced at a time when
with this process are many and com­performance. Getting this political Member States are turning a political
plex. They range from how people message across will be especially im­ comer on employment policy. The
qualify for benefit to how jobs are cre­portant as the EU enlarges in the next Treaty of Amsterdam and the special
ated, from how we perceive retirement few years. Jobs Summit that followed in Novem­
to how our health systems are funded.
ber 1997 revealed the determination of
EU governments to abandon the However, all Member States are hav­
Above all, the report explains why policies followed for more than three ing to face up to the inexorable need to
these issues matter so much and why it decades in favour of active labour mar­reform their social protection systems.
is vital that we keep a constant eye on ket policies that emphasise em-As demand has risen, so at the same
what is happening in this most fun­ployability, business opportunity, time financial constraints have tight­
damental aspect of how we organise equality at work and, above all, a readi­ened. Many of the old assumptions on
our societies. ness to invest in the EU's most which social protection systems have
precious commodity: the skills of its been built — a low level of unemploy­
people. Of all the components of the ment, one full time job without any
new European employment strategy, major spells of inactivity, the man as
social protection is one of the most the bread-winner and so on — are Pádraig Flynn Table of contents
Table of contents
Foreword - Pádraig Flynn 3
Executive summary 7
Modernising social protection and adapting systems to change 11
(Report adopted by the European Commission on 23 April 1998)
Report of the Commission Services
Chapter 1 Social and economic trends 29
Chapter 2 Adapting to change: recent reforms and key
developments 3
Chapter 3 The scale of social protection and its effect
on income 61
Chapter 4 Making unemployment benefit systems more
employment-friendly 93
Chapter 5 Reforming the transition from work to
retirement 11
Chapter 6 Health-care: containing costs and improving
services 129
Chapter 7 Social protection and long-term care 141
Notes and sources 153 ..·■ '
Table of contents Executive summary
Executive summary
highest level between social protection systems and the The political context
European Employment Strategy.
his is the third report on Social Protection in Europe. TIt sets out to monitor the progress achieved in relation The main quantitative findings to the objectives contained in the Council's Recommen­
dation on the convergence of social protection objectives
he main points to emerge from the analysis of the and policies of July 1992 (92/442/EEC) and to update the Trevised ESSPROS database on social protection and analysis of the 1993 and 1995 reports.
the new European Community Household Panel are:
The Report is also intended to contribute to the debate on
The scale of social expenditure: expenditure on social the future of social protection in the Union, launched by
protection in the Union amounted to 28'/:% of GDP in the Commission in 1995 with its Communication Frame­
1995. This figure, however, ranged from 20% of GDP in work for Debate on the Future of Social Protection. In
Ireland and 21-22% in Greece, Spain and Portugal to over March 1997, the Commission published a further Com­
30% in France, the Netherlands and the three Nordic munication, Modernising and Improving Social Protec­
countries, with Sweden having the highest level at almost tion, which reflected the main points made in the debate
36%. and drew attention to the major implications for policy.
The pattern of social expenditure: old-age pensions are by
The report should also be seen in the context both of
some way the largest item of social protection expenditure
Member States' efforts to consolidate public finances —
in the Union, accounting for 42 '/ % of the total in 1995, 2as pointed out in the 1997 Broad Economic Guidelines
equivalent to 12% of GDP, followed by health care,
and the two Resolutions on macro-economic stability,
amounting to around 22% of the total in the Union, as well
growth and employment, adopted at the European Council
as in all Member States, except for Denmark (only 14%),
in Amsterdam — and of the European Employment
and to some 6% of GDP. Transfers to the unemployed
Strategy. At the Luxembourg Jobs Summit in November
accounted for only 8% of total expenditure in the Union 1997, Member States broadly endorsed the Commission's
(just under 2'A% of GDP). proposals for employment guidelines. They agreed that
benefit as well as training systems should, where necess­
ary, be reviewed and adapted to ensure that they actively The growth of social expenditure: in most Member States,
support employability. Social protection also has an im­ the increase in social protection expenditure has slowed
portant role to play in helping to achieve other aims down in recent years. Although social expenditure across
emphasised in the 1998 Employment Guidelines which the Union increased in relation to GDP between 1990 and
were subsequently adopted — developing entrepreneur- 1995 (by just over 2 percentage points), this partly reflects
ship, encouraging adaptability of businesses and their the slowdown in GDP growth during the recession years.
employees and strengthening the policies for equal oppor­ Between 1993 and 1995, spending grew no faster than
tunities. A clear link has, therefore, been established at the GDP and in most c