Five new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on recent social policy developments in Italy, Latvia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway.

• After the light reforms of the pension system introduced in Italy in 2016 and 2017, the new Government proposals call for a substantial change in the pension agenda by relaxing eligibility conditions for all, introducing a “citizenship pension” to top-up the lowest benefits and cutting earnings-related pensions above €5,000 a month (so-called “gold pensions”).
• In Latvia, the land restitution process in cities has resulted in long-standing conflict between landowners and apartment-owners, who pay a compulsory lease for restituted land on which high-rise apartment buildings stand. In 2017, the parliament passed legislation gradually reducing the lease rate. This was declared in breach of the Constitution by the Constitutional Court in April 2018. Should the parliament fail to pass new legislation by May 2019, the compulsory lease rate will no longer be capped, and landowners will then be allowed to increase it as they wish.
• Facing an at-risk-of-poverty rate of almost 30% among children below the age of 18, the Government of the FYR Macedonia has been working, since September 2017, on a comprehensive reform of the social protection system which is planned to be introduced early next year. This includes increased child allowances and a new educational allowance for children in primary and secondary education.
• Also in the FYR Macedonia, the Government introduced, in March 2018, a 100% fee-waiver for the costs of public day care for single parents with income below the minimum wage (12,000 denars or €195). According to a press statement from the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, the Government plans to increase the number of categories of people eligible for a full or partial fee-waiver.
• In Norway, the Government and the public sector unions reached an agreement in March 2018 to adapt public sector occupational pension schemes to the main principles of the 2011 National Insurance pension reform. With this agreement, the Norwegian pension reform has become fully effective also for the third of the workforce employed in the public sector.