European Semester Spring Package 2023 : How well does it reflect the issues faced by persons with disabilities?

09.06.2023

Andre Felix

Social Policy

The European Commission released its Spring Package as part of the 2023 European Semester process release.

The European Semester is an annual review of the Member States’ policies by the European Commission. It ensures coordination between the Member States in areas such as economic and fiscal policies and has an increasing focus on social issues. It is used to give the Member States guidance and recommendations on how to implement their Recovery and Resilience Plans and use their cohesion policy programmes.

The Spring package sees the release of the Country Reports and the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) for each Member State. The Country Reports outline the list of issues observed in each Member State, and the CSRs transform these into recommendations on what the Member States should do to address them.

Tendencies in the 2023 Semester cycle

Disability issues were very present within the Country Reports and, to a lesser extent, in the Country Specific Recommendations.

The most common issues were barriers to employment and the disability employment gap. It is mentioned in 22 of the 27 country reports. The second most common issue was poverty and exclusion among persons with disabilities, present in 16 country reports. Other issues widely mentioned in the country reports include adequacy of social protection schemes and inclusive education.

This edition paid more attention to de-institutionalisation, community-based services and long-term care, although it remained absent from the reports of a number of member states where it should have been addressed. Housing for persons with disabilities and “vulnerable groups” was also mentioned in a number of the reports.

Other issues mentioned less frequently included: skills, sheltered workshops, energy poverty, legislation on discrimination, accessible transport, healthcare for persons with disabilities, accessibility of public buildings, social services and mental health.

When it comes to the Country Specific Recommendations, Member States were systematically told to decrease energy support measures put in place to support citizens with the cost-of-energy crisis, but were advised that if prices increase again, resulting in the need for more support measures, these should prioritise protecting vulnerable households.

Below we will give you a quick overview of everything related to disability in each EU Member State’s Country Report and any relevant Country Specific Recommendations that can be linked to persons with disabilities.

You can find the full Country Reports and Country Specific Recommendations of all the Member States by clicking on the links given above.

Extracts from the Country Reports and Country Specific Recommendations

Here we will present extracts of all of the times that references are made to disability specific issues in the Country Reports and Country Specific Recommendations of each of the Member States. In some cases a lot is mentioned, whereas in others there is very little mentioned about disability issues. For some countries these issues are addressed in both the Country Reports and the CSRs, whereas for others we see them only in the Country Reports.

The extracts are taken directly as they appear in the reports and in the order in which they appear. The terminology used when addressing persons with disabilities is therefore that employed by the European Commission.

Austria

Country report

the participation of persons with disabilities in the open labour market has deteriorated, with Austria’s disability employment gap increasing by 4.6 percentage points in 2021 to 25.1 percentage points, exceeding the EU average of 23.1 percentage points.
The housing overburden rate increased in 2022 to 7.4% (from 6.1% in 2021) with high energy prices being an increasing burden on households (see Annex 8).
The increased energy prices in 2021-2023 negatively affected households’ budgets, in particular for low-income groups. As a result of energy price changes during the August 2021 to January 2023 period relative to the 18 months prior in the absence of policy support and behavioural responses, the share of individuals living in households which spend more than 10% of their budget on residential energy would have increased by 11.3 percentage points (percentage points) for the whole population and by 14.6 percentage points among the (expenditure-based) AROP population, slightly less than the EU-level increases (16.4 percentage points and 19.1 percentage points, respectively).
Among the population at risk of poverty and exclusion, the share of individuals living in households with budget shares for private transport fuels above 6% would have increased more than the EU average (10.4 percentage points vs 5.3 percentage points), reaching 40.8% in January 2023 (EU: 37.9%) due to the increase in transport fuel prices.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Boost labour market participation of women, including by enhancing quality childcare services, and of older workers, and improve labour market outcomes for disadvantaged groups, such as low-skilled jobseekers and people with a migrant background, including by raising their levels of basic skills.

Belgium

Country report

Disadvantaged groups are less integrated in the labour market. These include people with low education attainment, a migrant background or with disabilities. There is also evidence of discrimination against people with a migrant background, who represent around one-third of the working age population. Regional disparities in the unemployment rate are significant.
Addressing educational inequalities could also help reduce labour shortages. About one out of five pupils aged 15 fails to perform basic mathematics, reading or science tasks (OECD Pisa Results 2018). Students with a low socio-economic background are underachieving in reading, maths and science. In addition, children with parents with a low level of education and young people with disabilities are more likely to leave school early.
In particular for vulnerable groups, such as low-educated adults, people with a migrant background and people with disabilities, labour market participation remains low.
The employment gap between persons with and without disabilities is one of the highest in the EU and continues to increase (38 percentage points (percentage points) in 2021 vs 32 percentage points in 2018).
To address this issue, the Belgian recovery and resilience plan (RRP) includes reforms to strengthen discrimination tests and support a sector-based discrimination policy (in Flanders). The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) will focus on active social inclusion of disadvantaged groups by rolling out more integrated insertion itineraries, including for persons with disabilities.
More than one in three young adults with disabilities do not finish secondary education and their limited participation in higher education is one of the reasons for their low employment rate. There are also concerns about the quality of vocational education and training and participation of low-skilled in adult education. Modernisation of VET and VET infrastructure under the Flemish Recovery plan aims to improve the quality and attractiveness of the programmes.

Country-specific recommendations

In addition to reducing work disincentives from the tax and benefits system, more effective and targeted activation measures could help unlock the large untapped labour potential and alleviate the growing labour and skills shortages. Disadvantaged groups, including people with low education attainment, a migrant background or with disabilities, are less integrated in the labour market. There is a low transition rate on average from unemployment or inactivity to employment. This suggests that there is still scope to strengthen the effectiveness of active labour market policies, in particular with more systematic evaluations and integrated pathways for jobseekers who face multiple barriers to finding a job. Pursuing policies to boost the reintegration of workers on long-term sick leave, in particular due to burnout and depression (25% of cases), who now largely exceed the number of unemployed, will also be necessary to further increase the employment rate.
Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Address labour shortages and skills mismatches, in particular by strengthening activation policies to 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

Country report

Nonparticipation in the labour market is particularly high among young people, the loweducated, people with disabilities, Roma as well as in poorer and rural areas.
Roma inclusion in education remains a challenge, as well as the inclusion of people with disabilities. Tertiary educational attainment is also low (for those aged 25-34). Investing more to improve people’s skills would bring about higher productivity and income, more investment opportunities, getting more people into work or training and social inclusion, thereby supporting the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Levels of poverty and income inequality are particularly high among children, people with disabilities, Roma and those living in rural and remote areas. In 2021, the income of the richest 20% of the population was 7.5 times higher than that of the poorest 20%, well above the EU average of 5 times higher.
The share of children in poverty or social exclusion stood at 33% and for people with disabilities at 45.3%, both among the highest in the EU.
Beyond the reforms and investments in the RRP, Bulgaria would benefit from: Further strengthening active inclusion by integrating employment and social services and providing active labour market policies in order to narrow regional disparities and tackle the challenges of vulnerable groups, including Roma and people with disabilities;
The employment rate of persons with disabilities also continued its upward trend, reducing the gap with persons without disabilities from 33 percentage points in 2020 to 22.1 percentage points in 2021, slightly below the EU average (23.1 percentage points).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023 using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Croatia

Country report

At 28.7 percentage points in 2021, the disability employment gap was still among the highest in the EU.
Croatia’s recovery and resilience plan included the objective of establishing a functional system for the exercise of the rights of persons with disabilities in the field of transport.
The social protection system insufficiently protects the most disadvantaged persons. While the rate of the population at risk of poverty and social exclusion is lower than the EU average, groups at higher risk include older people, especially women, and people with disabilities.
Women, low-skilled workers, persons with disabilities and young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) continue to face particular challenges in getting access to quality employment. One of the main reasons is that they lack adequate skills, with qualifications not matching market needs. The disability employment gap is still high, even though it has slightly decreased (28.7 percentage points in 2021 against 23.1 percentage points in the EU).
the poverty and exclusion rate is substantially higher than the EU average (33.8% against 19.4% in the EU in 2020) for older people, especially women (37.3% against 21.8% in the EU), and persons with disabilities (36.9% against 28.8% in the EU). Energy poverty is a serious problem, with arrears on utility bills for households at risk of poverty (27.4% in 2021) much higher than the EU average (15.9%). Considerable effort is needed to reach.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Cyprus

Country report

The employment gap between people with and without disabilities widened.
In general, the risk of poverty or social exclusion is low, but it is higher for disadvantaged groups, such as people with disabilities and people born outside the EU.
Cyprus’ recovery and resilience plan includes measures that encourage the transition of local communities to climate mitigation and facilitate adaptation action. It includes calls for proposals for investments promoting energy efficiency in buildings for small and medium enterprises, communities and the public sector, together with calls for investment in the use of renewables and energy savings by public authorities and NGOs. These measures will reduce both primary and final energy consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions generated by buildings. They should encourage the use of renewable energy sources in old dwellings, including in energy poor households, in households with people with disabilities and in old infrastructure used by local authorities.
Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Cohesion Policy programme “Thalia” includes investment in sustainable urban and rural transport projects, promoting public and non-motorised transport, and accessibility-enhancing measures which will improve urban transport for all users, including people with disabilities.
The disability employment gap increased considerably to 27 percentage points in 2021 from 23.5 percentage points in 2020, which is above the EU average of 23.1 percentage points. Yet, there are labour shortages as measured by the vacancy rate of 2.3% in 2021 (in line with the EU average), which are mostly observed in the trade, manufacturing, transport, tourism and ICT sectors. Measures under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) in support of active labour market policies for young people, women, non-EU nationals, and persons with disabilities, together with outreach activities for young people under the Cyprus’ recovery and resilience plan (RRP), are expected to help address the challenges mentioned above.
Matching the increasing skills needs, including for digital skills, poses a significant challenge that needs to be addressed in light of the green and digital transitions. Digital literacy remains low: 50% of the population had at least basic digital skills in 2021, which is below the EU average of 54%. The early school leaving rate in Cyprus decreased sharply by 1.3 percentage points, but, at 10.2% in 2021, it is still above the EU average of 9.7%. It is particularly high among non-EU-born people and persons with disabilities.
The share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in 2021 was relatively low in Cyprus at 17.3%, which is below the EU average of 21.7%. However, the rate is higher for specific groups, such as persons with disabilities at 29.1%, although slightly lower than the EU average of 29.7%.
The impact of social transfers on reducing poverty for self-employed people is rather limited at 10.8% (25.6% in the EU). ESF+ measures to create a network of social inclusion services, including home-care support for persons with disabilities, are expected to strengthen equal opportunities and support social inclusion for people in vulnerable situations. In 2019, Cyprus had one of the highest proportions of women aged 65 and over with severe difficulties with personal care and household activities (94.7% vs EU 78.1%), yet long-term care attracts low levels of public funding (at 0.34% of GDP in 2020).
Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Plan and ESF+ operational programme will help address this problem by supporting long-term care infrastructure and services for older people and persons with disabilities.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Czechia

Country report

Measures are needed to address fiscal sustainability. The Czech government aims to present a comprehensive plan for improving fiscal sustainability and a pension reform in 2023. It has also approved reductions in social security contributions to promote part-time work for specific groups such as older people, young parents, students and people with disabilities with the aim to increase the participation rates of these groups in the labour market.
The disability employment gap was above the EU average.
Access to quality community-based services remains limited for some people in need. The lack of community-based social and health services mainly affects women, older people, and persons with disabilities. The modernisation of social care services has so far relied largely on ESF+ support. The absence of clear definitions for key terms in legislation and a set deadline for the full de-institutionalisation of care facilities hinders the ability to provide adequate services. Further efforts are needed to progress on the de-institutionalisation of children.
Despite the abolishment of special schools, pupils with a Roma background still do not have equal access to quality education: segregation continues in mainstream schools, mainly in the regions with significant population of Roma, for example Ostrava and Brno. Moreover, frequent misdiagnoses of learning disabilities and the lack of societal consensus on the benefits of inclusive education hinder progress. Czechia has also launched a project to provide comprehensive support to disadvantaged schools and pupils, with help from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023 using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Strengthen the provision of social and affordable housing, including by adopting a specific legislative framework, improving coordination between different public bodies, and incentivising the construction of new housing units as well as the refurbishment of existing ones.

Denmark

Country report

Denmark has managed to substantially improve the labour market integration of young people and persons with disabilities, while unemployment remains high among foreign-born residents.
The disability employment gap, which had been higher than 16 percentage points since 2014, was halved to 7.9 percentage points in 2021. The employment gap fell for people with only some activity limitations (from 11.5 percentage points in 2019 to 5.2 percentage points in 2021) and for people with severe activity limitations (from 37.4 percentage points in 2019 to 20.9 percentage points in 2021).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Estonia

Country report

While poverty has been gradually decreasing, it remains high for unemployed people, people with disabilities, and older people
Deliverables from Estonia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan include then entry into force of the Decree of the Minister of Social Protection to support the independent living of older people with lower care needs and people with disabilities.
The risk of poverty or social exclusion remains high among vulnerable groups. The share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) continued to decrease from 23.7% in 2019 to 22.8% in 2021 (EU: 21.9%). However, persons with disabilities face a high risk of poverty or social exclusion (40.4% in 2021) compared to the EU average (28.9%).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Strengthen social protection, including to address old-age poverty, and by extending the coverage of unemployment benefits, in particular for those with short work spells and in non-standard forms of work. Improve access to and the affordability of healthcare and long-term care, in particular by ensuring their sustainable funding.

Finland

Country report

Despite favourable social developments, some groups in Finland are still in a weak labour market position. The disability employment gap decreased to 19.0 percentage points (percentage points) in 2022 and youth unemployment fell by 2.9 percentage points to pre-pandemic levels (14.2% in 2022).
Finland has had several pathways to early retirement in the past, i.e. unemployment benefits, unemployment pension, disability pension and early retirement pension. Finland recently reformed its pension system (2017) and phased out early retirement pathways, leaving in place only disability pension, partial old-age pension and years-of-service pension.
The disability employment gap increased between 2020 and 2021 (from 19.9 percentage points to 22.1 percentage points), remaining above that of Nordic peers, although slightly below the EU average. Under its RRP, Finland is taking steps to promote the employment of non-EU nationals and vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
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.

France

Country report

The percentage of early school leavers stood at 7.6% in 2022, continuing the downward trend of the last decade, but some disparities exist. Early leaving is higher among young people with low-educated parents and those born outside of France. Compared to the national average, boys and pupils living in rural areas and in outermost regions also lag behind. The inclusion of pupils with a disability, while progressing, remains a challenge, mainly due to the shortage of support specialists and low accessibility.
The inclusion of pupils with a disability remains a challenge. While inclusion has progressed (an additional 78 500 pupils with a disability attend mainstream schools compared with 5 years ago), the shortage of support specialists and low accessibility (physical and pedagogical) have hampered further progress.
Two reforms included in the Recovery and Resilience 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.

Country-specific recommendations

Despite an overall level of public spending above the OECD average and good outcomes, the French education system is marked by a significant share of low achievers, and socio-economic background remains a strong predictor of pupils’ performance. Underachievement and inequalities in acquired skills in mathematics remain a particular concern. According to national and international surveys, average performance in mathematics has steadily decreased over the past 30 years in France. Some steps have been taken to strengthen the acquisition of basic skills, including by reinforcing the continuous training of teachers in mathematics and French, initiated in 2019, and adding a one-hour support module in mathematics and French to the first year of secondary school from school year 2023/24 on. The plan to halve class sizes in first and secondary grades in disadvantaged public pre-primary and primary schools has almost been completed and the long-term impact on the learning outcomes of the 300 000 pupils concerned is being assessed. However, a substantial share of disadvantaged pupils, outside of priority areas, do not benefit from it. Challenges also remain, despite investments and progress, with regard to the access of pupils and students with disabilities to the mainstream education system.
Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Address the shortage of skills, in particular by providing additional work-based learning options and raising the share of people with basic skills. Adapt resources and methods to the needs of disadvantaged students and schools in order to make the education and training system more equitable and inclusive. Improve the working conditions and initial and continuous training for teachers.

Germany

Country report

A large gap remains between the employment rate of people with and without disabilities (30.5percentage points in 2021).
To alleviate labour shortages, more could be done to tap the potential of women as well as of low-qualified people, people with disabilities and migrants. Targeted labour market inclusion measures for people with disabilities and improving basic skills of disadvantaged groups could also contribute to tackling labour shortages and to raising the employment rate to Germany’s national target of 83% by 2030.
Germany’s employment gap of persons with disabilities was one of the highest in 2021 at 30.5 percentage points vs 23.1 percentage points in the EU. More than 300 000 persons with disabilities are employed in sheltered workshops, and there is a very low transition rate to the primary labour market. Addressing those challenges would help Germany reach its 2030 employment target of 83%
The share of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion increased from 22.3% in 2020 to 23.7% in 2021, although this remained below the EU average (24.4%). The share of persons with disabilities in the same situation (30.1%) continued to be higher than the EU average (28.8%). To address these challenges, Germany is allocating a considerable share of funding under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to programmes that foster social inclusion in general (32.8%) and for children specifically (5.9%).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023 using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Speed up the digitalisation of the entire service chain for public services and improve people’s digital skills. Remove investment obstacles and boost investment in very high capacity digital communication networks.

Greece

Country reports

With support from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, Greece has also embarked on the digital transformation of employment and social security services and it has introduced a personal assistance pilot scheme for people with disabilities that applies a new disability assessment approach in line with EU best practices.
Among its deliverables in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Greece committed to advancing on the de-institutionalisation of children, notably through the placement of minors with severe disability and/or mental disorders in the care of professional foster carers and the placement of adolescents in semi-independent living apartments.
Advancing on the de-institutionalisation of children, notably through the placement of minors with severe disability and/or mental disorders in the care of professional foster carers and the placement of adolescents in semi-independent living apartments.
Greece continues to show a strong commitment to the digital transformation of its public services and has made substantial progress in moving public services online. However, the results are not yet fully reflected in the indicators on digital public services for businesses and for citizens, which remain below the EU average, partially because of a still limited number of cross-border services available compared to other Member States. In 2022, the percentage of e-Government users in Greece is higher than the EU average (81% vs 74%). In July 2022 a new application, Gov.gr Wallet, was launched, allowing digital documents (e.g. national identity cards, driving licences and disability cards) 54 to be fully equivalent to paper documents for any legal use within the Greek territory, but not cross-border.
The disability employment gap was also slightly above the EU average (23.8 percentage points in 2021 vs 23.1 percentage points), and persons with disabilities find it difficult to access training. Involuntary part-time employment also remained high (49.4% in 2022), with 21% of those concerned experiencing in-work poverty.
The scope of social, healthcare, and long-term care services to improve the situation of vulnerable groups is limited. The de-institutionalisation process for children and persons with disabilities saw little progress in 2021.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
To ensure adequate and equal access to healthcare, complete the roll-out of the primary healthcare framework and adopt stronger incentives for the enrolment of an adequate number of family doctors in order to achieve full population coverage and population registration. Finalise cadastre reform by completing cadastral mapping and the establishment and operation of the Hellenic Cadastre Agency.

Hungary

Country report

There is also a large pool of people who could be better integrated into the labour market, including women with care responsibilities and disadvantaged groups, in particular low-skilled people, Roma, and persons with disabilities. Unless further efforts are made in this area, it will be challenging for Hungary to reach the national employment target of 85% by 2030.
Poverty indicators show a mixed picture. While the overall poverty indicators have improved over the last decade, the relative situation of certain disadvantaged groups, such as low-income households, children, people with disabilities, Roma and people living in remote rural settlements has worsened. Disadvantaged groups face difficulties in accessing adequate social assistance, education, healthcare and assistance with seeking work. Hungary is among the four worst-performing Member States in the severe material and social deprivation rate.
Shortages of labour and an unutilised workforce are present at the same time. New manufacturing sites have difficulties finding local workers and therefore recruit people from other regions of Hungary or employ foreign workers. While the overall employment rate is relatively high, certain disadvantaged groups, such as Roma, people with a low level of education, women with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities, have difficulties finding jobs due to weaknesses in the education, training and social assistance systems and in support structures for job seekers.
The disability employment gap has also remained persistently high above 28 percentage points (EU: 23.1 percentage points) since 2014.
There is room for social policies to tackle the growing economic and social difficulties. The severe material and social deprivation rate was still one of the highest in the EU in 2021 (10.2% vs 6.3% in the EU) and was especially high among children (15.2% vs 7.5% in the EU) and Roma (55.5%). The share of those who have difficulties in making ends meet is much higher among persons with disabilities (17.4% vs 9.5% in the EU).
The proportion of students with disabilities remains below 1% and university students with special needs face serious barriers to their studies (Petri & Markos, 2021).

Country-specific recommendations

While the overall poverty indicators have improved over the last decade, the relative situation of certain disadvantaged groups such as low-income households, children, people with disabilities, Roma and people living in remote rural settlements has worsened. The severe material and social deprivation rate is one of the highest in the EU, with significant disparities between regions.
The headline employment rate is relatively high, but certain disadvantaged groups such as Roma, low-skilled people, women with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities have difficulties in entering the open labour market due to the weaknesses in education, training, social assistance systems and support structures for jobseekers. The employment rate gaps for the low-skilled, Roma and people with disabilities remain persistently high. One in five women seeking paid employment is left out of the labour market due to caring responsibilities for children or dependents with disabilities.
Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Improve the adequacy of the social assistance system, including unemployment benefits. Improve access to effective active labour market measures, in particular upskilling opportunities for the most disadvantaged groups, and ensure effective social dialogue. Improve the regulatory framework and competition in services by avoiding selective and arbitrary administrative interventions and the use of tailormade legislation providing undue advantage or disadvantage to specific companies, by applying competition scrutiny systematically to business transactions and by reducing the use of emergency measures to what is strictly necessary, in line with the principles of the single market and of the rule of law.

Ireland

Country report

Disadvantaged groups continue to face significant labour market challenges and disproportionately high poverty risks. The social scoreboard, supporting the European Pillar of Social Rights, indicates that the disability employment gap stood at 41.3 percentage points in 2021, among the highest in the EU.
The disability employment gap increased in 2021 to 41.3 percentage points, 2.5 percentage points worse than 2020 and well above the EU average of 23 percentage points.
In 2021, the at-risk of-poverty or social exclusion rate for people with disabilities and single parents was nearly double and triple that of the general population, respectively.
Insufficient provision of community-based social services often means people with disabilities are dependent on institutional care. Long-term care expenditure in Ireland stood at 2.9% of GNI* (1.6% of GDP) in 2020, well above the EU average of 1.8% of GDP. As with healthcare, public expenditure on long-term care is expected to rise due to an ageing population. This rise will be almost double the EU average by 2070, at 1.9 percentage points of GDP in Ireland vs 1.1 percentage points of GDP for the EU. This is driven by one of the highest expected increases in the share of oldage dependents in the EU.
The new ‘early engagement’ method of the public employment service Intreo, if sufficiently resourced with specialised caseworkers, has the potential to increase access to employment for disabled jobseekers. At the same time, strengthening support services for employers who hire people with disabilities could facilitate recruitment and retainment. Both disabled people and Travellers tend to have low qualifications, pointing to a need for a more inclusive education system. Caring responsibilities and high childcare costs, despite decreasing significantly in recent years, remain major barriers to employment, especially in disadvantaged areas. Regulations on flexible working and more sufficient welfare support for working single parents could increase labour market participation. The government has launched several actions under the pathways to work 2021-2025 strategy; however, in many cases engagement of (potential) jobseekers has been low.
Young workers (18-24 years), people with disabilities, ethnic minorities (e.g. Roma and Travellers), single parents and those with lower educational background face greater challenges with regards to job transitions/job changes when compared to the general population
A particularly high share of people with low skills (35.2%) and persons with disabilities (36.7%) live in workless households.
One in five people in Ireland was at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in 2021; although this is an overall improvement, disadvantaged groups became poorer. The AROPE rate for persons with disabilities grew by 4.3 percentage points to 39.3%, twice as high as for the general population and 10 percentage points higher than the EU average.
Some efforts have been made with a new housing policy recently introduced to support persons with disabilities. Homelessness is at a historic high with 11 988 homeless people in the country in March 2023, including almost 3 500 children. The housing situation may aggravate further with the influx of displaced people from Ukraine (approximately 80 000 as of April 2023).
The rate of early leavers from education and training is low but remains high for people with disabilities. The early school leaving rate at 3.7% in 2022 is among the lowest in the EU. However, the rate among people with disabilities is comparatively high at 10.7% (2018) ( 104). Research highlights qualitative differences in disabled people’s educational trajectories, with lower participation in university studies.
The tertiary educational attainment rate rose again; however, the disability education gap remains wide. In 2022, the tertiary attainment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points compared with 2021, reaching 62.3%, the highest rate in the EU (average 42%). Despite progress, Irish people with disabilities still have a 20% higher chance of having a low education (primary or lowersecondary level) than their non-disabled peers.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Italy

Country report

The risk of poverty and social exclusion is especially high for children, people with disabilities and people with a migrant background.
Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan aims to improve social inclusion and prevent marginalisation. Italy has launched a reform and has begun investing in support for people with disabilities, along with investments in adequate housing and in revitalising urban areas. The plan includes measures to improve social services and their coverage across the country. The 2021 Framework Law on Disability brought in a more multidisciplinary disability assessment and promoted autonomy and noninstitutionalised care. For 2023, the next steps are expected to be the implementing decrees of the reform of disability and a reform of the non-self-sufficiency condition.
Measures from Italy’s recovery and resilience plan include reforms and investments to improve active labour market policies, tackle undeclared work and promote social inclusion of vulnerable people, for instance of people with disabilities, vulnerable families, and elderly people. The reforms include investments in social housing and improving the resilience of the healthcare system.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting 28 Under Articles 5(2) and 9(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97. EN 13 EN vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Latvia

Country report

The energy policy response in Latvia include measures such as: (i) temporary and differentiated cost compensation above a certain price threshold for heating (based on the energy source used) and a fixed tariff for households for the first 100 kWh of electricity per month; (ii) two measures providing additional monthly benefits to vulnerable households e.g. retired people, persons with disabilities, survivors, people and families on a low-income, large families and families with a child with disabilities; (iii) suspension of the electricity system service tariff for companies and, for all legal persons, reimbursement of 50% of the cost of electricity above a certain price level.
Latvia has launched programmes to improve accessibility for people with disabilities to public buildings, social-care facilities and individual homes. In 2022, to reduce regional disparities, Latvia adopted various support programmes for the construction of low-rent housing and the development of industrial parks and enlisted at least 20 education institutions in improving the school network.
Single-parent households and persons with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to poverty. The risk of poverty and social exclusion is also higher in rural areas than in more urbanised areas.
The poverty and exclusion rate for persons with disabilities is also one of the highest in the EU (41.2% compared to 29.7% in the EU), and the available support for persons with disabilities shows low adequacy.

Country-specific recommendations

The poverty or social exclusion risk in old age is the highest in the EU (45.9% compared to 19.5% in the EU in 2021) and also remains very high for people with disabilities (41.2% against 29.7% in the EU in 2021). Access to and the quality of individual needs-based social services remains a challenge due to the shortage and high workload of social workers as well as disparities across municipalities. The long-term care system is fragmented, with limited progress in the transition from institutional care to home care and community-based services. The adequacy and availability of social housing is limited due to insufficient long-term funding.
Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Lithuania

Country report

Lithuania already completed two submeasures in the areas of social protection. Lithuania has set-up an accreditation scheme for the provision of social care to increase the quality of social care services. Furthermore, an additional benefit for disabled and elderly single persons has been introduced to tackle poverty in these vulnerable groups.
While social indicators in Lithuania have improved somewhat, the energy crisis and soaring inflation may reverse the positive trend. The overall share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion fell slightly between 2020 and 2021. However, compared to the overall rate of 23.5% (in 2021) significantly higher rates have been observed for people over 65 (38.7%) and for persons with disabilities (38.9%).
While investments are planned under the 2021-2027 EU cohesion policy funds, in particular to develop the social housing stock for disabled persons and large families, these would not be enough to address all needs. In this context, it remains crucial to develop an overall strategy on how to tackle chronic shortages and increase the quality of social housing.
The Recovery and Resilience Plan includes a measure for setting up an accreditation scheme for the provision of social care, reviewing the benefits system for single persons with a disability and older single persons, launching training and employment support schemes;
Despite high levels of poverty and social exclusion among persons with disabilities, there is a shortage of person-centred communitybased services. More than EUR 175 million of ESF+ funding is allocated to address the need for personalised services to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. In addition, recent reforms on disability assessment and labour market participation of persons with disabilities are aimed to address the issues mentioned above.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Strengthen the adequacy of healthcare and social protection and improve general public services.
Strengthen primary care and expand preventive care, including to make the healthcare system more resilient. Improve the planning and delivery of social services. Improve access to and quality of social housing.

Luxembourg

Country report

The disability employment gap is 15.4 percentage points.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Improve the performance of the school education system and promote equal opportunities for all students, notably by adapting teaching to the needs of disadvantaged students and those from various linguistic backgrounds.

Malta

Country report

Women and people with disabilities still experience difficulties in the labour market. The gap between the employment rates of men and women in Malta, despite narrowing considerably in recent years and women’s overall employment rate now exceeding the EU average, remains one of the largest in the EU at 13.1 percentage points in 2022 and widens with age. The employment rate of women aged 55-64 has been persistently low. People with disabilities face difficulties in finding work, with the disability employment gap standing at 27 percentage points (vs an EU average of 23.1 percentage points in 2021).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Netherlands

Country report

The Netherlands’ recovery and resilience plan includes measures to address a series of structural challenges through: 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;
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the inherent risks in an already highly segmented labour market. People with flexible contracts (in particular young people, lower-skilled adults, people with a migrant background and persons with disabilities) were among the groups hit the hardest, together with the self-employed without employees.
Although the share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the Netherlands is stable and well below the EU average, there are still challenges for specific groups, such as people with a migrant background and persons with disabilities.
9% of persons with disabilities were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022 (0.6 percentage points below the 2021 value but still 1.4 percentage points more than in 2020).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Reduce incentives to use flexible or temporary contracts. Taking into account sectors-pecific needs, address structural labour and skills shortages, including by tapping into underutilised labour potential and strengthening up- and reskilling opportunities, in particular for those at the margins of the labour market and the inactive.

Poland

Country report

Persons with disabilities, women and vulnerable groups continue to face obstacles to labour market participation. At 34.2 percentage points, the disability employment gap is one of the highest in the EU (EU average: 23 percentage points) and has been showing an increasing trend in recent years. The activity rate of persons with disabilities (around 50%) is on the rise, but still well below the EU average of 61.6%.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Improve the efficiency of public spending, including through better targeting of social benefits. Ensure the adequacy of future pension benefits and the sustainability of the pension system by taking measures to increase the effective retirement age and reforming preferential pension schemes.

Portugal

Country report

Portugal continues to perform better than average in disability and gender employment gaps.
Portugal’s recovery and resilience plan provides clear answers to several socio-economic challenges. It includes reforms and investment to supply more targeted social services. Portugal is upgrading and expanding its infrastructure for 7 social care services, benefitting groups such as children, the elderly and those with disabilities.
Deliverables from Portugal’s recovery and resilience plan include a Digital information platform for people with disabilities

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Romania

Country report

The coverage of social services remains low, with significant gaps between rural and urban areas (and between different regions). The insufficient provision of non-residential community-based care services is also delaying the de-institutionalisation of people with disabilities. EU-funded programmes for 2021-27 contain significant investment in this area, with almost EUR 680 million allocated to the delivery of integrated services for 2 000 disadvantaged rural communities. Other investments target improved access to health and employment services, with a focus on vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities and those from remote areas or marginalised communities.
Participation in the labour market of women, young people, persons with disabilities, low-skilled people and Roma remains limited.
the disability employment gap (32.6 percentage points) is significantly higher than the EU average (23.1 percentage points in 2021) and rising.
Although decreasing, Romania is still facing high poverty risks and inequality. Income inequality remains among the highest in the EU and increased in 2021. The share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) continues to be among the highest in the EU too (34.4% in 2021 vs 21.7%). People living in rural areas, marginalised communities, and vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities and Roma, are particularly affected
Poor access to social and health services, notably for disadvantaged groups, contribute to deepening disparities. Marginalised groups, such as those from remote rural areas, persons with disabilities and the Roma, are among the most affected.
De-institutionalisation continues but progress is slow, especially for adults with disabilities, due to the limited availability of integrated services. Under its recovery and Resilience Plan, Romania undertook to accelerate the de-institutionalisation process . Implementing the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the ESF+ will contribute to improving the situation and help meet the 2030 target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2.5 million.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Slovakia

Country report

Slovakia developed a manual on how to remove physical, technological and informational barriers in schools and make them more accessible for pupils with disabilities. This know-how will be crucial when completing the ensuing investment in removing physical barriers in 252 secondary schools by the second quarter of 2025.
The risk of the social situation deteriorating is exacerbated by high inflation and a lack of affordable housing. Women, children, older people and persons with disabilities make up most of the displaced people residing in Slovakia, and this presents a challenge for social inclusion and the education system.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Slovenia

Country report

In 2023 and 2024, work on reforms is expected to advance and the implementation of important investments will be accelerated. The act regulating the pay system in the public sector, amendments to the Pension and Disability Insurance Act and a ban on using fossil fuels for heating in new buildings are expected to enter into force.
Slovenia continues to face some long-term structural challenges in its labour market. One of these challenges is the low employment and activity rates of older workers, in particular those with lower skills levels, and persons with disabilities. These groups also face persisting high long-term unemployment.
Slovenia’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP) sets out measures to: (i) improve cooperation between the education system and companies; (ii) help young people enter the labour market faster; (iii) adapt the workplace to the needs of persons with disabilities; and (iv) support more flexible forms of work to encourage older people to work longer. Slovenia will also use the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to support active labour market measures, in particular for young people and vulnerable groups, such as the long-term unemployed.
Mental disorders are the most common reason for disability retirement. Moreover, they are the third most common reason for work incapacity and sick leave (which are, on average, among the longest in the EU). Mental disorders and suicides represent a major public health problem (with a financial burden estimated at 4% of GDP). The suicide mortality rate is one of the highest in EU, with significant regional variability. The death rate related to excessive drinking, closely linked to mental health, is also much higher than the EU average. The share of people seeking mental care (at only 2.1% vs 5.3% on EU average) is influenced by the lack of coordination in planning access to relevant services (with psychiatrists concentrated mainly in hospitals), stigmatisation of mental disorders, and low mental health literacy.

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Spain

Country report

The disability employment gap in Spain is 15/9 percentage points

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023, using the related savings to reduce the government deficit. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.

Sweden

Country report

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) will aim specifically to activate those that are furthest away from the labour market (long-term unemployed people, young people, older people, newly arrived migrants, persons with disabilities and people on sick leave who need support to get back to work).
Sweden managed to partially improve integrating persons with disabilities into the labour market and is continuing to expand the coverage of formal childcare services. The disability employment gap had been stable since 2015 (30.2 percentage points) but began a steep decline in 2019 (24.9 percentage points) and reached 19.9 percentage points in 2021 (below the EU average of 23.0 percentage points). This was entirely due to the improved conditions of people with only some activity limitations (from 19.0 percentage points in 2019 to 13.0 percentage points in 2021), while the situation deteriorated for people with severe activity limitations (from 38.7 percentage points in 2019 to 46.7 percentage points in 2021).

Country-specific recommendations

Wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, ensure that these are targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings.
Improve educational outcomes for pupils with disadvantaged socio-economic and migrant backgrounds by ensuring equal access opportunities in the schooling system and addressing the shortages of qualified teachers. Develop the skills of disadvantaged groups, particularly people with migrant backgrounds, by adapting resources and methods to their needs, with a view to helping them integrate into the labour market.

Document credits

This document was prepared by Haydn Hammersley