Five new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on recent social policy developments in Poland, Romania and Sweden.

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• Funded pensions in Poland suffer from a lack of social trust. For over five years, there has been a political discussion about the potential liquidation of the mandatory funded pension savings, but no final decision has been taken. The new occupational-based employee capital plans (PPKs) are now fully phased-in, with the last group of public institutions offering the PPKs in April 2021. Less than a third of workers are covered by the employer-based plans, which is less than expected. Most workers opted out from the auto-enrolment plans, which indicates, among other things, a low level of trust in State-regulated long-term savings.

• Since April 2021, a large number of rules governing social assistance have also changed in Poland. Some changes apply to the profession of social worker and their employment conditions (for instance: the establishment of a career progression path for social workers, an increase of the wage supplement for social workers in the community, and requirements for people applying for a certificate of social work supervisor). These changes were positively received by the main Polish trade union of social workers and social assistance workers. Other changes include an increase in penalties for illegal activities in institutional social care (unregistered care homes), and an increase in the maximum social assistance cash benefit.
• Despite reorganisation of the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, and efforts to efficiently address the healthcare needs of the population, a tremendous increase in mortality was observed in Poland in 2020. The government proposed an increase in health insurance contributions (inter alia by introducing health insurance contributions for the self-employed set at 9% of income in place of a flat rate) as one of the means of increasing public healthcare expenditure. In addition, in July 2021 it introduced a health monitoring and prevention programme for the adult position.
• In Romania, a draft law on the social protection of vulnerable energy consumers, yet to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, is expected to provide a comprehensive and coherent legal framework for energy vulnerability and poverty and more effective support to vulnerable households in coping with their energy needs. The draft law expands the definition of vulnerable energy consumer and establishes a package of benefits and facilities to protect these consumers. Its effectiveness will depend on how eligibility is assessed (means-testing procedures) as well as on the value of the benefit and its uprating mechanism.
• In Sweden, in December 2020, the Corona Commission published its first interim report on the authorities’ response to the pandemic, focusing on long-term care (LTC) for older people and the reasons why the strategy to protect these people failed. The report, which noted several structural shortcomings of the Swedish LTC system, has led to intense policy debates and subsequent policy initiatives – including the decision in April 2021 to increase LTC-related state grants to municipalities.

The ESPN Flash Reports reflect the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information they contain.