Five new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social policy Network (ESPN) have just become available and provide information on recent policy initiatives in Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia and Finland.

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• The Croatian Parliament in June 2016 voted not to accept the Annual Report of the Ombudsperson for Children. The vote is interpreted by many as a threat to the independence of the institution and may reflect a growing politicisation of issues related to child and family rights.
• A Government consultation document published in June 2016 recommends an increase of the one-off payment for every new-born child in Croatia from approximately €300 to €1,000 as a policy to reverse the negative demographic trend. The cost of this, however, was not included in the 2016 Budget and the increased payment was not coupled with any other measure aimed at the protection of children or at the reconciliation of work and family life.
• After a protracted contraction, the Cyprus economy returned to real growth in 2015. This has triggered debates on how the anticipated fruits of growth should be shared. The Minister of Finance announced reductions in taxes whereas the opposition parties favour policies to improve social welfare services, which were hit by the recession, and reduce income inequality.
• Since May 2016, non-working old-age beneficiaries of international protection receive public healthcare insurance in Estonia. Before then, as they could not fulfil all requirements to receive state pensions, they were not covered by healthcare insurance. Forecasts indicate that 3% of beneficiaries of international protection in Estonia are likely to benefit from this new legislation.
• In Finland, social welfare and healthcare, as well as regional administration, will be subject to a major reform in the next few years. The centre-right government will unify all public social welfare and healthcare services, introduce freedom of choice between public and private primary care and abolish the present multi-channel funding of healthcare. New legislation is under preparation and is expected to be adopted in the autumn of 2016.