New fiscal rules are being introduced in the EU progressively from 2024 and they will significantly shape the future of social spending across its Member States.
This study aims at examining these changes, exploring how the new rules are set to affect key areas of social spending, in particular pensions, healthcare and long-term care.
The study is structured in three chapters.
- The first one explains the European Economic Governance Reform, detailing how debt sustainability analyses will influence national budgeting processes and the potential risks of new fiscal constraints on social expenditure.
- The study further discusses the broader implications of public expenditure on societal well-being and sustainable growth, emphasising the necessity to preserve adequate and resilient social protection systems in light of demographic shifts and aging populations.
- Finally, it examines the public expenditure generally needed to maintain a high level of social protection in the most advanced EU Member States and the public expenditure to converge to that level in other Member States, so as to meet the EPSR targets.
The study concludes with strategic recommendations, advocating that a satisfactory level of social expenditure should be a priority for the EU and that the EU fiscal governance framework should be interpreted so as to allow for this priority to be met.