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European Semester outcomes – Spring package 2024 European Disability Forum

European Semester outcomes – Spring package 2024 European Disability Forum

The report includes the country-specific analysis and recommendations that emerge from the European Semester outcomes – Spring package 2024. Where possible, we divided each Member State’s analysis into two sections. In the first we detailed the national indicators and governmental measures around disability. The second illustrates the relevant recommendations to address gaps and missing interventions.

Download the report European Semester outcomes – Spring package 2024 European Disability Forum (Word)

Austria

What it says about disability

  • In the field of social inclusion, funding of EUR 114 million from the European Social Fund Plus will help support active labour market integration and promote active inclusion, including of persons with disabilities. Closing gaps in skills and labour shortages will help increase Austria’s competitiveness.

The recommendations

Boost the labour market participation of women by developing quality childcare services, and of older workers.

Improve labour market outcomes for disadvantaged groups, such as low-skilled jobseekers and people with a migrant background, and raise the levels of basic skills, starting at school level.

Promote business dynamism, creation and growth of young companies, including through better access to risk capital.

Belgium

What it says about disability

  • Under the RRF, the Brussels Capital Region adopted a reform that seeks to promote the sustainable integration of vulnerable groups of people into the job market, including jobseekers with disabilities. This sustainable integration pathway is taken up in the disability project run by the Brussels public employment service, which aims to create a legislative framework with funding from the European Social Fund Plus to help match jobseekers with disabilities with employers.
  • Effective policies to better integrate disadvantaged groups are needed. Given the high labour shortages, sizeable hiring and wage subsidies do not seem to be the most cost-efficient policy to increase labour market participation. The efficiency of public employment services could be improved by refocusing on helping jobseekers find a job. In addition, targeted measures are needed to better integrate disadvantaged groups in the labour market (including older people, people with disabilities, with low skills or with a migrant background). After the number of workers on long-term sick leave increased between 2013 – 2021, the federal government took measures to reintegrate them into the labour force.
  • Belgium performs well or is improving on most SDG indicators related to fairness (SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10). However, labour market participation remains low in particular for vulnerable groups, such as adults with a lower level of education, people with a migrant background and people with disabilities.
  • A set of new measures aim to ease access to the Belgian federal public administration have been approved. These include a new competence model and more flexibility on educational qualifications, allowing final-year students to apply. The recruitment process has been also adapted, aiming to facilitate access to the civil service by applicants with disabilities.
  • the employment gap between persons with and without disabilities remains one of the highest in the EU (21.4 percentage points in 2022). Several federal and regional measures have been taken since 2022 to improve the reintegration of workers on long-term sick leave, the number of whom rose significantly between 2013 and 2021 (from 4.5% of the working-age population to 6.7%, according to national statistics).
  • In addition, the AROPE gap between persons with and without disabilities increased and was one of the biggest in the EU in 2022 (at 20.3 percentage points vs the EU average of 10.5 percentage points).

The recommendations

Address labour shortages and skills mismatches, including for the green transition, and strengthen policies to further integrate disadvantaged groups into the labour market.

Improve the performance and equity of the education and training systems and continue reforms to strengthen the teaching profession.

Bulgaria

What it says about disability

  • Ageing and shrinking workforce and a high proportion of economically inactive population among young people continue to constrain employment gains. Activity rates for people aged 20-64 peaked at 79.6% in 2023. The inactive population varies significantly across regions and is particularly high among Roma, persons with disabilities and for those with lower educational attainment.
  • Vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, those in rural areas, and the Roma population face a heightened risk of poverty. However, Bulgaria has taken action to address the issue via its Child Guarantee national action plan, which, among others, focuses on providing better education and healthcare to children, especially from Roma and migrant backgrounds as well as children with a disability.
  • Bulgaria grapples with significant poverty and inequality challenges, notably affecting vulnerable groups such as children, older people, people with disabilities, and Roma communities. Policy measures have aimed to improve support for vulnerable populations, including people with a disability, contributing to a broader social protection system in a country with traditionally low social transfers.
  • Bulgaria’s labour market continued its strong performance in 2023, but challenges remain for people in vulnerable situations such as young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs), persons with disabilities, and the Roma population. While economic growth continued to slow down in 2023, the employment rate (20-64 age group) continued to grow, reaching 76.2% in 2023, which is 0.9 percentage points above the EU average. After falling for 4 consecutive years, the disability employment gap rose to 29.5 percentage points in 2022 and then to 39.5 percentage points in 2023 and is among the widest in the EU.
  • Other particularly affected groups are persons with disabilities (49.9% AROPE vs 28.8% in the EU in 2022, down to 42.4% in 2023).

The recommendations

Improve education and training, including for disadvantaged groups, by enhancing teacher training and implementing competence-based teaching and learning.

Address labour shortages and improve workers’ skills to boost competitiveness and support the green transition.

Croatia

What is says about disability

  • The risk of poverty is higher for vulnerable groups and social exclusion holds back labour supply. As regards the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, although the risk of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE) has been relatively stable since 2019 and below the EU average, older people, especially women, and people with a disability are particularly affected by higher poverty risks. Vulnerable groups also face persistent barriers to accessing the labour market and getting quality employment, constraining labour participation and productivity.
  • Significant challenges exist for women, older and low-skilled workers, persons with disabilities and young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) to get access to good quality jobs. The disability employment gap in 2023 was 39.2 percentage points, (increasing from 36 percentage points in 2022, which was already above the EU average of 21.4 percentage points) and has increased by 10.5 percentage points since 2021.
  • The AROPE rate for persons with disabilities increased in 2023 to 37.5% (from 35.3% in 2022) and it remains significantly higher than for persons without disabilities (a 22.6 percentage points gap in 2023, up from 21.5 percentage points in 2022).

The recommendations

Reduce labour and skills shortages by strengthening basic skills, enhancing upskilling and reskilling, and improving access to formal home- and community-based long-term care.

Cyprus

What it says about disability

  • The employment gap between people with and without disabilities has been above the EU average since 2021. Persons with disabilities also face a relatively wide employment gap (25.7 percentage points vs 21.4 percentage points in the EU in 2022), even after narrowing by 1.3 percentage points since 2021.
  • In general, the risk of poverty or social exclusion is low in Cyprus, but higher for disadvantaged groups, such as people with disabilities and people born outside the EU.
  • Cyprus has made progress in implementing cohesion policy programmes and the European Pillar of Social Rights, but challenges remain. There is still a socio-economic divide in Cyprus between urban and nonurban areas. In this context, it is important to continue implementing the planned priorities, focusing on skills development based on the comprehensive active labour market strategy to enable people join the labour market and promote the social integration of vulnerable groups, including people not in employment, education or training, women and persons with disabilities.
  • The European Social Fund Plus will contribute to the priority heading on social inclusion with a budget of EUR 77.2 million. Work under this priority will involve promoting active inclusion projects, with a particular emphasis on boosting the employment of vulnerable groups of people. In addition, it will provide quality social services, including care services for people with disabilities, independent living in the community, early childhood education and care services.
  • The AROPE rate improved to 16.7% in 2022 (17.3% in 2021), below the EU average of 21.6%. It was much higher for persons with disabilities, at 28%. The impact of social transfers on reducing poverty decreased by almost 7 percentage points from 2021 (37.6%) to 2022 (30.8%) ( 93). This is an area to watch, because the growth in real gross disposable household income (GDHI) per person in Cyprus was one of the lowest in the EU in 2022.
  • The development of the social economy and social inclusion services will help improve equal opportunities and assist people in vulnerable situations. This is key for those in need of home-care support and for persons with disabilities. Public funding for long-term care is low at 0.33% of GDP in 2021, less than a fifth of the EU average (1.74%), while the share of the population in need well exceeds the EU average, with very strong disparities between income quintiles. This imposes caregiving obligations on people, which has an impact on activity rates.
  • The RRP and ESF+ support investments in infrastructure for long-term care and services for older people and persons with disabilities.

The recommendations

Strengthen the competitiveness of the economy by accelerating efforts to improve the governance of state-owned enterprises in line with international standards and further improving skill levels and educational outcomes.

Strengthen continuous teacher training and address the imbalances between labour supply and demand by further increasing the capacity and attractiveness of Vocational Education and Training programmes as well as fostering adult learning.

Czechia

What it says about disability

  • Access to quality community-based services remains limited for some people in need, notably women, older people and persons with disabilities. The Czech government approved the national deinstitutionalisation action plan which aims to provide more opportunities for independent living and community-based services. A government resolution was also approved that could pave the way to unlock national funding for deinstitutionalisation from 2025 onwards. Nevertheless, there remains a capacity deficit of between 15,000 to 30,000 care places (out of the current 75,000). High reliance on residential services, a declining capacity of community-based services (from 115,000 in 2010 to 95,000 in 2022, a fragmented and unstable financing environment and regulatory barriers to integrated social-health care are further challenges in the Czech care sector.
  • Efforts are focused on making education more inclusive, but results are yet to be seen. Czechia is implementing various reforms under the Education Policy Strategy 2030+, but challenges still exist. The segregation of Roma children in education has increased from 29% in 2016 to 49% in 2021. There are still about 130 schools where more than a third of pupils are Roma, 60 of which are set up as special schools, with reduced learning outcomes for pupils with mild mental disabilities.

The recommendations

Strengthen the competitiveness of the economy by addressing skills mismatches, simplifying the recognition of foreign qualifications, and by increasing the labour market participation of underrepresented groups.

Denmark

What is says about disability

  • The disability employment gap is below the EU average, at 9.9 percentage points

Estonia

What it says about disability

  • The AROPE rate of people with a disability increased in 2022 and it is one of the highest in the EU, reaching 47.8%.
  • Estonia has the highest proportion of persons with disabilities not able to have their care needs met. Access to long-term care is unequal across the country as local governments’ capacity to provide services and funding varies significantly. Lack of sufficient care services may put pressure on relatives, mainly women, to provide the needed care themselves. As a result, only a limited number of these people are working or looking for a job, reducing Estonia’s competitiveness.
  • The social protection of older people, persons with disabilities and people in 16 non-standard forms of work and with short work spells is weak. Estonia still has one of the EU’s highest at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) rates for older people, persons with disabilities and those in non-standard forms of work and with short work spells. In 2022, the AROPE rate for persons with disabilities not only increased, but also was the second highest in the EU, and the gap compared to the AROPE rate for people without disabilities was the biggest in the EU.
  • Estonia’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP) includes measures to address a series of structural challenges, in synergy with other EU funds, including cohesion policy funds, by: To support upward social convergence, strengthening social protection and tackling inequalities, by addressing old age poverty, increasing support for people with disabilities, and extending the coverage of unemployment benefits, in particular to those with short work spells and in non-standard forms of work;
  • Ongoing challenges include ensuring the accessibility of health data to everyone (including people with disabilities) and making all relevant portals accessible on mobile devices.
  • In 2022, the disability employment gap rose significantly, by 7.5 percentage points, interrupting a steady decline since 2016 and exceeding the EU average for the first time in 2022 (26.2% vs 21.4% in the EU). The latest data points to a significantly lower disability employment gap in Estonia for 2023 (at 20.2 percentage points).

The recommendations

Strengthen social protection, inter alia to address old-age poverty and by extending the coverage of unemployment benefits, in particular to those with short work spells and in non-standard forms of work.

Finland

What it says about disability

  • The labour-market measures in Finland’s RRP build on European Social Fund (ESF) support to increase labour-market participation between 2014-2020. The ESF support focused on young people, the unemployed and older people, as well as on marginalised groups such as migrants and people with disabilities.
  • By the end of 2022, more than 433,000 participants, including around 249,000 unemployed people, had received support under ESF projects.
  • Disability employment gap 19 percentage points

The recommendations

Pursue the reform of the social security system in order to increase the efficiency of the social benefits system, which would improve incentives to work and support the long-term sustainability of public finances.

Address labour and skills shortages by reskilling and upskilling the workforce and widening the higher education offer, in particular for the study fields most in demand in the labour market. Ensure that the reform of social and healthcare services improves access to and delivery of services and tackles inefficiencies.

France

What it says about disability

  • A shortage of teachers and the weak attractiveness of the profession weigh on educational outcomes. This can be done by improving working conditions, giving more autonomy to schools and pedagogical freedom, strengthening mentoring programmes for new teachers and providing robust initial and continuous training that aligns with the changing needs of students, including those with a disability.
  • While inclusion of children with disabilities has progressed, the shortage of support specialists and low accessibility still hamper further progress. In 2022-2023, an additional 114,600 children with a disability attended mainstream schools compared with 5 years ago. However, only 1.4% of primary school students with disabilities had a specialist teacher and only 3.7% had access to adapted teaching equipment.
  • Through its recovery and resilience plan, France plans to invest EUR 4.5 billion (11.2% of the plan’s total value) in strengthening its health system. Two reforms included in the plan were already implemented in 2021: (i) a law reforming hospital governance, which will make the organisation of hospitals more flexible; and (ii) a law on social debt and autonomy, which supports the independence of older people and people with disabilities.

The recommendations

Further address skills shortages, including in green transition occupations, and foster participation in training, in particular among the low-skilled.

Improve the performance and equity of the education system. Strengthen the teaching profession, including by improving working conditions and training.

Germany

What it says about disability

  • There is scope to reduce the gap in the employment rate of persons with disabilities (24.2 percentage points in 2022) and to increase the total number of hours worked to alleviate the current labour shortages.

The recommendations

Address the shortage of skilled workers, particularly by strengthening basic and digital skills, and improving education outcomes, including by providing targeted support to disadvantaged groups.

Speed up the digitalisation of public administration including by increasing the geographic coverage of digital public services.

Further boost the deployment of very high-capacity digital communication networks, including by facilitating the necessary implementation of private investment projects and mobilising public resources where needed.

Greece

What it says about disability

  • Despite recent increases in the employment rate, getting into work or training is still particularly challenging for long-term unemployed people, people with a disability, young people and women.
  • Action under EU instruments help support access to social and health services. To support the independent living of people with a disability, Greece introduced a modern, tailor-made personal assistance scheme on a pilot basis under its RRP, paving the way for a nationwide launch by mid-2025. A second pilot on early childhood intervention programmes for around 1 400 children with a disability aged up to 6 years is also under way. In addition, to improve access to healthcare, Greece created 50 mental health units and is in the process of renovating 80 hospitals across the country.
  • These efforts will be followed by investments under the ESF+ to promote equal access to education for more than 11 500 pupils and students with a disability and set up more than 1 200 social and health structures across Greece.
  • Up until 2026, the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility will support a wide range of measures to promote employment, including among women, the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities, and upgrade the national healthcare system.
  • women and persons with disabilities (respectively 63.3% and 64.6% of the long-term unemployed in 2022).
  • Persons with disabilities also continue to face obstacles in integrating in the labour market and challenges in getting access to training. More generally, there is scope to improve the effectiveness of outreach activities and targeted individualised activation and training services, especially for vulnerable groups, including by involving the social partners and by continuously improving public employment services and their coordination with social services.

The recommendations

Boost competitiveness through tackling underachievement in basic skills, reinforcing the management of state assets and completing the regulatory framework for environmental licensing.

Hungary

What it says about disability

  • People with a disability, Roma and the low educated face challenges to participate in training and find work. The disability employment gap was among the highest in the EU in 2022, at 32.4 percentage points and remains high, at 29.6 percentage points in 2023.
  • Hungary performs at or above the average in three-quarters of the European Pillar of Social Rights indicators, but further policy action is needed. Labour market performance continues to be generally favourable. However, the disability employment gap remains substantial.
  • The early school leaving rate is above the EU average, and it is significantly higher in rural areas and among disadvantaged groups, especially among Roma and persons with a disability.
  • The disability employment gap is well above the EU average.
  • while the overall rate of young people neither in employment nor in education or training (10.8%) remains below the EU average, it is significantly higher among persons with disabilities, Roma and women in rural areas
  • The recovery and resilience plan Improving skills levels, labour market participation and social mobility, with a focus on disadvantaged groups, including Roma and people with a disability, by raising education performance, decreasing the rate of early leavers and upskilling the workforce;
  • Persons with disabilities have a gap in the AROPE rate well above the EU average (15.4 percentage points vs 10.5 percentage points in 2022) and a rising trend in 2023.

The recommendations

In the context of the mid-term review of cohesion policy programmes, continue focusing on the agreed priorities, taking action to better address poverty, focusing on energy poverty and the least developed districts and municipalities

Improve the adequacy of the social protection system, including unemployment benefits. Improve educational attainment levels as well as access to effective active labour market measures, in particular upskilling and reskilling opportunities for the most disadvantaged groups and ensure effective social dialogue.

Ireland

What it says about disability

  • Disadvantaged groups continue to face significant labour market challenges, even though they are an untapped source of labour. The disability employment gap stood at 37% in 2022, the highest in the EU
  • Evidence also points to a high postsecondary education gap for people with a disability.
  • People with a disability, single parents and Travellers still experience difficulties in finding work or training courses. Since 2022, the public employment services have reached out proactively to clients with a disability to raise awareness of available support. There is ample evidence of discrimination in the workplace, and the jobs available to people with disabilities to lift them out of poverty. Fear of losing their disability benefits frequently prevents people from starting a job, which would require a potential adjustment to allowances.
  • Poverty and social exclusion remain challenges, especially for vulnerable groups. Among those most affected are persons with disabilities, Travellers and Roma, older people, and single parents.
  • The AROPE rate of persons with disabilities slightly increased in 2022, to 39.5%, and is twice as high as for the total population.
  • While their employment situation improved, Ireland still recorded the highest disability employment gap in the EU, at 37 percentage points in 2022 (EU average: 21.4 percentage points). Persons with disabilities have a very low employment rate and are overrepresented in households with a low rate of work intensity. There is ample evidence of discrimination at work, and the jobs available to persons with disabilities are often inadequate to lift them out of poverty. Fear of losing the disability benefits frequently prevents people from entering work.
  • Also, persons with disabilities tend to have high rates of early school leaving and lower levels of educational attainment. There is also a high tertiary education gap of 16.1 percentage points (EU average: 11.3 percentage points) for persons with disabilities in the 30- 34 age group. Supportive policy interventions for more inclusive education, and reinforcement of career guidance and coaching, appear important.
  • Since 2022, the public employment services have reached out proactively to clients with a disability to raise awareness of the support that is available to them. The ESF+ co-finances the Workability Programme, which will support 5,000 persons with disabilities to enter education and employment in 2021-2027.
  • The rate of early leavers from education and training is low but remains high for vulnerable groups. The early school leaving rate at 4.0% in 2023 is among the lowest in the EU. The rate, however, remains high among vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities and Travellers. Ireland continues supporting students with special needs. In 2024, it plans for an additional 744 special needs teachers and 1,216 special needs assistants in mainstream and special classes, and special schools. There are still needs for investment in new mainstream school buildings given demographic projections, and in the upgrading of existing schools.
  • The tertiary educational attainment rate is the highest in the EU; progress on equity will be important. In 2023, at 62.7%, the tertiary attainment rate was among the highest in the EU. While, overall, 83% of graduates are in employment 9 months after graduating, the rate for graduates with disabilities is 69%, ranging from 57% to 74% depending on the nature of the disability

Italy

What it says about disability

  • Italy is taking measures to reduce poverty and give greater autonomy to older people and people with disabilities. Under the RRP, Italy has started delivering on measures to boost economic and social resilience, including a reform of services for non-self-sufficient older people, a reform of the framework law on disability, and full implementation of the measures under the reform to tackle undeclared work. Using cohesion policy funds, the national programmes Inclusion and Poverty Reduction and Youth, Women and Jobs support vulnerable groups such as migrants, people in undeclared work and people with disabilities by providing pathways to job market inclusion.
  • Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan retains a strong social dimension with social protection measures, especially related to promoting the transformation of vulnerable territories into smart and sustainable areas by investing in social housing, strengthening local social services to support children and families, improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities, and investing in infrastructure for the Special Economic Zones in the South.
  • The disability employment gap sits at 14 percentage points.
  • The existence of a well-functioning and adequate minimum income scheme is key to reducing social disparities. From 2024, the minimum income scheme no longer determines eligibility only by means-testing, but identifies eligible households based on demographic categories. A similar scheme to the previous ‘Reddito di cittadinanza’, now called ‘Assegno di Inclusione’, will continue to be provided based on a set income threshold, but only to households whose adult members are considered unable to work as the family includes children, persons with disabilities or people over 60.

The recommendations

In order to mitigate the effects on potential growth, tackle negative demographic trends including by attracting and retaining high-skilled workers and by addressing labour market challenges, in particular with regards to women, young people and in work poverty, notably of workers with non-standard contracts.

Latvia

What it says about disability

  • Single-adult households with dependent children and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to poverty.
  • Some progress has been made on the objective to address social exclusion notably by improving the adequacy of minimum income benefits, minimum old-age pensions and income support for people with disabilities. This has been done through measures in the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
  • The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) will invest over EUR 260 million in social inclusion measures to support over 42,000 disadvantaged and unemployed people, to provide community-based care social services to over 1,000 people with disabilities and to provide access to early childhood education to over 1,200 disadvantaged children.
  • Funding under the RRP, ERDF and ESF+ is also complementary in the area of long-term care. The RRP will provide community-based housing for elderly people and the ESF+ will develop long-term care services, such as home care and day care centres for people with mental and functional disabilities, including for the elderly. In addition, funding under the ESF+ and ERDF will provide infrastructure for children with functional impairments and for people with mental disabilities.
  • the disability employment gap is below the EU average (20.8% vs 21.4%), despite increasing from 2021. The unemployment rate of persons with disabilities was 7.1% in 2022.
  • Deinstitutionalisation efforts, launched with the help of EU funding for 2014-2020, have provided more people with mental disabilities access to community-based services (up from 20% in 2012 to 32% in 2021), but further efforts are needed to reach the national 45% target by 2027.

The recommendations

Address labour and skills shortages, in particular in STEM, and in other specialisations needed for the green and digital transition, as well as in the social and healthcare sectors, including through targeted upskilling and reskilling.

Lithuania

What it says about disability

  • According to the Lithuanian statistical office data, AROP for the total population slightly decreased in 2023 (by 0.3 percentage points). In particular, the poverty rate materially decreased among older people (65+) and people with a disability (by 3.4 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points, respectively). However, the situation remains difficult for these vulnerable groups.
  • Significant efforts are needed to tackle high poverty risks among the unemployed and older people as well as people with a disability. These are due to low spending on social protection, which leads to relatively low coverage and low adequacy of unemployment and social benefits as well as pensions.
  • While the labour market situation has improved, recent policy interventions to address the disability employment gap may take some time to show up in the data.
  • People with a disability face high poverty risks, driven by their relatively weaker labour market situation and low adequacy of social benefits. The AROP rate of people with a disability in 2022 was 37.7% (vs EU 20.5%), significantly higher than the AROP rate of people without a disability (second highest gap in the EU). The average disability pension accounts for around 65% of the average old-age pension and around 55% of the AROP threshold forecast for 2023. Other figures show that the rate for persons with disabilities increased from 38.9% in 2021 to 44.3% in 2022 (vs EU: 28.8%). This is driven by low adequacy of social benefits and incapacity pensions for this group. Recent reforms in the assessment of disability (as of 2024) and in the participation of persons with disabilities in an open labour market (as of 2023), along with efforts to improve the adequacy of the minimum income could help address the high levels of poverty for persons with disabilities.
  • The disability employment gap (the gap between employment rates within the general population and people with a disability) is one of the highest in the EU according to the Social Scoreboard, although the national data paints a more positive picture.
  • Lithuania’s recovery and resilience plan includes measures to address a series of structural challenges in synergy with other EU funds, including cohesion policy funds, by: Increasing the effectiveness of the social protection system by setting up the social care accreditation scheme, reviewing the benefits system for single persons with a disability and older single persons, and launching training and employment support schemes.
  • The disability employment gap recorded a spike from 23.9% to 35.0% in 2022 (vs EU: 21.4%).
  • Upcoming investments and reforms include solutions for digital public services to persons with disabilities
  • In terms of social inclusion, the investments in new or modernised social housing will improve living conditions for over 2,000 people with disabilities and for large families.
  • Acute depopulation combined with an ageing population in Central-Western Lithuania translates into higher percentages of those at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion (AROPE), including suffering from severe material and social deprivation in the region, especially for older people and persons with disabilities.

The recommendations

Provide adequate financing for healthcare, social protection and general public services

Improve health outcomes and the resilience of the health system by strengthening primary care and expanding preventive care. Increase the adequacy of old-age pensions, while maintaining the sustainability of the pension system.

Address skills mismatches by improving the labour market relevance of higher education.

Luxembourg

What it says about disability

  • The disability employment gap is well below the EU average at 8.5 percentage points

The recommendations

Improve the performance and equity of the school education system, including by adapting teaching to the needs of disadvantaged students and those from various linguistic backgrounds. Address labour shortages and skills mismatches in particular for the green transition.

Malta

What it says about disability

  • Persons with disabilities endure an employment gap that is 8.7 percentage points above the EU average at 30.1 percentage points
  • Only half of the people of working age with disabilities are active in the labour market.
  • By making effective use of various funding sources, Malta is supporting people with disabilities. As part of the RRP, Malta has rolled out multi-sensory learning rooms for students with severe needs in colleges and autism units in middle schools, thus supporting the further integration of pupils with special needs into the mainstream school environment. Malta’s ESF+ Operational Programme includes targeted support for people with disabilities once they leave the education system. Measures cover generic and specific training services to achieve skills relevant for work (including ICT skills) and independent living, and for work exposure support, apprenticeships and job coaching, and guidance and mentoring services.
  • The share of Maltese people at risk of poverty or social exclusion stood at 20.1% in 2022, slightly below the EU average. However, this rate remained high among non-EU nationals (30.6%), low-skilled adults (30.9%), people aged over 65 (33.3%), in particular older women, and persons with disabilities (36%). The latter is also linked with a high and rising disability employment gap, which, at 30.1 percentage points, is far above the EU average (21.4 percentage points).
  • nearly 11,000 people received support from active inclusion and anti-poverty measures, funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) in Malta. These measures supported the most vulnerable groups. Over 50% of recipients were low qualified, 30% were under the age of 25 and 17% of recipients had a disability.
  • The RRP aims to improve basic skills and literacy, track early school leavers, enhance online training, and adapt educational infrastructure for students with disabilities. Nonetheless, considerable efforts are needed to reach the national 2030 skills target of at least 57.6% of adults learning each year.
  • The risk of poverty or social exclusion remains high for specific vulnerable groups, revealing the presence of pressing social issues. It was especially the case for persons with disabilities (36%)

The recommendations

Strengthen the quality and labour market relevance of education and training to address low educational outcomes as well as the severe shortage and mismatch of skills, in particular by fostering basic skills of students and the professional development of teachers.

Poland

What it says about disability

  • A decline in the working-age population, as well as the low number of people working or looking for work within some population groups, particularly women, people with a disability and older people, keep weighing on labour supply.
  • In Poland, there is a strong need to tap into the potential of groups still not present enough in the labour market, particularly women, people with a disability and older people.
  • Due to the insufficient provision of residential and non-residential services, the care for older people and people with a disability is mostly carried out informally and falls on family members, especially women.
  • Under the European Social Fund (ESF) from 2014-2020, almost 1 million participants, including nearly 34,000 young people with disabilities, benefited from Youth Employment Initiative measures.
  • Persons with disabilities continue to face obstacles to labour market participation and gender inequalities in employment persist. Despite a slight decrease in 2022 (from 34.2 percentage points in 2021 to 31.3 percentage points), the disability employment gap is still well above the EU average of 21.4 percentage points. Disability or illness is one of the main reasons for economic inactivity in Poland. In 2020, 69% of all working-age people with a legally documented disability were economically inactive.
  • The share of young people with disabilities and who are not in employment, education or training (46%) is one of the highest in the EU. The tertiary education gap (age 30-34) was 21.4 percentage points in 2020-21 (vs 11.3 percentage points in the EU).
  • While Poland fosters inclusive measures, the disability gap in education remains also wide. A relevant strategy could enable better understanding of the objectives, stakeholders’ involvement, and progress monitoring.

The recommendations

Take steps to increase labour market participation of disadvantaged groups, including by improving quality of and access to formal home- and community-based long-term care.

Foster competition in public procurement processes, making these more efficient and less cumbersome, especially for SMEs.

Support private investments by fostering digitalisation of companies.

Portugal

What it says about disability

  • Despite real improvements and performance above the EU average on gender and disability employment gaps, there are still some social and environmental concerns
  • The disability employment gap is 13.1 percentage points

The recommendations

Continue focusing on the agreed priorities, taking action to better address the needs in the area of prevention of and preparedness for climate change-related risks, while considering the opportunities provided by the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform initiative to improve competitiveness

Romania

What it says about disability

  • Romania has approved a set of legislative changes to improve social cohesion. Under RRP reforms, Romania adopted guides for the deinstitutionalisation of people with disabilities and the prevention of institutionalisation. The government has also agreed on a national long-term care strategy. The implementation of the minimum inclusion income has started aiming to help the most vulnerable people out of poverty and with finding a job. As a complement to those reforms, EU-funded programmes for 2021-2027 aim to improve access to social, health, education and employment services, with a focus on vulnerable groups.
  • The RRP includes a reform to implement measures (such as counselling and support for parents and children; day centres for children at risk of separation from their parents; and day centres for children with disabilities) to effectively prevent the separation of children from their families and support the family in caring for children at risk of separation.
  • The low coverage and effectiveness of policies to help people find work or training remains a key challenge. The low effectiveness of public employment services holds back reskilling, upskilling and labour-market participation. In particular, this affects: (i) women; (ii) people that are not in employment, education or training (NEETs); (iii) Roma; and (iv) people with disabilities.
  • Addressing widespread poverty and inequality remains a challenge. Romania has one of the highest rates of both adults and children at risk of poverty and social exclusion within the EU. Those who are particularly affected by this include people living in rural areas, older people, children, and vulnerable groups (including people with disabilities and Roma). Accelerating the implementation of measures under both the RRP and cohesion policy, in particular the ESF+, would improve the situation and help Romania to meet its 2030 target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2.5 million.
  • The coverage of social services remains low, with significant differences between income groups, regions, and urban and rural areas. The provision of quality health and social services remains low and uneven, especially in marginalised communities and for people with disabilities and older people.
  • The low availability and affordability of quality, non-residential, community-based care services is also delaying the deinstitutionalisation and transition to independent living of people with disabilities. Romania has one of the highest shares of people with long-term care needs in the EU (56% vs 26.6% in the EU).
  • Romania’s recovery and resilience plan includes measures to address a series of structural challenges, in synergy with other EU funds, including cohesion policy funding. This includes increasing the effectiveness of active labour market policies and tackling persistent employment gaps in the labour-market participation of women, young people, people with disabilities, low-skilled people, and Roma.
  • the RRP aim to improve access for people in disadvantaged and marginalised areas to basic healthcare, and improve access for people with disabilities and long-term care needs to community or home-based services.
  • The gender and disability employment gaps are very wide, well above the respective EU averages.
  • Women, NEETs, Roma and persons with disabilities are less likely than other jobseekers to find work after participating in active labour market policy measures.
  • The education and training system faces persistent challenges in relation to quality and inclusiveness. Few children under the age of three receive formal childcare (12.3% vs 35.7% in the EU in 2022). The early school leaving rate is among the highest in the EU (16.6% vs 9.5% in the EU in 2023), and disproportionally affects young people in rural areas, Roma and persons with disabilities.
  • The coverage of quality and affordable care services, notably for persons with disabilities and older people, is inadequate and uneven, due to insufficient funding and fragmentation in delivery. Only 4.7% of people aged over 65 and in need of long-term care used home care services, compared to an EU average of 28.6%. (This is against the background of Romania having one of the highest shares of persons with long-term care needs in the EU, at 56% vs the EU average of 26.6%). 16.4% of persons with disabilities (vs 4.1% in the EU) report unmet needs for medical care, while a lack of community-based social services hinders the deinstitutionalisation process. The ESF+ supports the scaling up of the delivery of services at national level in 2,000 disadvantaged rural communities. It also supports strategic reforms, including the deinstitutionalisation process, in complementarity with the RRP, as well as social innovation measures to improve access to services for persons with disabilities.
  • Romania is experiencing some of the highest poverty risks and levels of inequality in the EU. People living in rural areas, older people and vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities and Roma, are particularly affected.

The recommendations

Taking action to better address the needs regarding social housing, the related social services and the development of smaller urban areas, while considering the opportunities provided by the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform initiative to improve competitiveness.

Slovakia

What it says about disability

  • Inclusion of pupils with mental health issues or other disabilities in education remains a big challenge.
  • The disability employment gap stands at 21 percentage points.

The recommendations

Strengthen the teaching of basic skills, including for children from disadvantaged backgrounds such as from marginalised Roma communities, and increase the availability and use of affordable high-quality early childhood education and care for children under the age of 3.

Slovenia

What it says about disability

  • While the housing cost overburden rate remains well below the EU average, housing affordability is a challenge for some. The housing cost overburden rate was at a generally low level in 2023 (3.7%). However, housing affordability does not only affect vulnerable groups, such as single person households, people with disabilities or migrants, but has also become and remains a concern for others.
  • The disability employment gap stands at 18.8 percentage points.

The recommendations

Strengthen competitiveness by boosting skills levels further, ensuring that the ongoing curricula reform also helps strengthen basic skills, by addressing labour shortages.

Spain

What it says about disability

  • Spain adopted measures to strengthen social and territorial cohesion. These measures targeted vulnerable groups, such as people with a disability, migrants, and people at risk of exclusion.
  • Income inequality and poverty rates remain relatively high. This has affected in particular non-EU nationals, persons with disabilities, single parents and low-skilled individuals, while income inequality and child poverty remain high.
  • During the 2014-2020 programming period, cohesion policy funds boosted Spain’s competitiveness, with tangible achievements notably in research and innovation, circular economy, energy efficiency and social inclusion. During the same period, almost 1.5 million people benefited from social inclusion, anti-poverty and anti-discrimination measures under the European Social Fund’s national programme for social inclusion and social economy. These measures targeted vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, migrants, or people at risk of exclusion.
  • Despite various efforts, there is room to improve the effectiveness of the social protection system Despite decreasing since 2021, the share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ranked among the highest in the EU (ES: 26% vs EU: 21.6% in 2022), notably for non-EU nationals (60.4%), persons with disabilities (30%), single parents (49.2%) and low-skilled people (33.7%).

Sweden

What it says about disability

  • Sweden’s recovery and resilience plan includes measures to address a series of structural challenges, in synergy with other EU funds, by: Reducing skills gaps, in particular for people born outside the EU and people with disabilities, through focused policy measures.
  • The labour market in Sweden is performing well overall, but significant challenges to integrating people born outside the EU. The employment rate remains one of the highest in the EU, at 82.6% in 2023 (EU: 75.3%). However, Sweden still faces difficulties in integrating vulnerable people into the labour market. The disability employment gap widened in 2022 to be once more above the EU average (25.7 percentage points in Sweden vs 21.4 percentage points in the EU).
  • The Swedish European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) programme specifically aims to activate those people who are still furthest away from the labour market, including persons with disabilities, newly arrived migrants and long-term unemployed people.

The recommendations

Improve educational performance, including of students with disadvantaged socioeconomic and migrant backgrounds, by addressing the persistent shortage of qualified teachers, by ensuring equal access opportunities to the schooling system and by further supporting the transition of students to upper secondary school.

Develop the skills of the labour force, particularly those from disadvantaged socioeconomic and migrant backgrounds, through targeted policy measures and resources, to improve their integration into the labour market.

The Netherlands

What it says about disability

  • The Netherlands’ recovery and resilience plan (RRP) includes measures to address a series of structural challenges, in synergy with other EU funds, including cohesion policy funds, by: Ensuring a level playing field between employees and the self-employed by introducing mandatory disability insurance for the self-employed and by taking measures to tackle bogus self-employment;
  • Although the disability employment gap closed slightly in 2022, it remains above the EU average (25.2 percentage points vs 21.4 percentage points)
  • Although the share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the Netherlands is stable and well below the EU average, some groups face significant risks, such as people with a migrant background, children and persons with disabilities.
  • A quarter of persons with disabilities were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022, a rate that is more than double that for persons without disabilities. There is therefore scope for greater social policy action for the Netherlands to reach its national target to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 163,000 by 2030, taking into account the gaps that persist between different groups.

The recommendations

Remove obstacles to the construction of new dwellings, and ensure the affordability and availability of housing in the private rental market. Address the expected increase in age-related expenditure by making the long-term care system more cost-effective.

Address structural and sector-specific labour and skills shortages, including by tapping into underutilised labour potential