The financial crisis that hit the global market in the middle of 2008 gave way to the sharpest contraction of the European economies since the Great Depression.
... See More + In 2009 the economic output in the countries of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in GDP since its creation. Since then, the economies have slowly recovered, but unemployment has continued to rise, reaching 11 percent in 2013, up from 7.1 percent in 2008. The economy of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in its GDP since the Unions creation. Furthermore, for the European Union as a whole, long-term unemployment among 15- to 64-year-olds has increased from 37.2 percent in 2008 to 47.5 percent of total unemployment in 2013. In several countries more than half of those unemployed are long-term unemployed, that is, they have been looking for jobs for more than 12 months. In Greece and Bulgaria the share of long-term unemployed in 2013 was 67.5 percent and 57.3 percent, respectively. Youth unemployment, on the other hand, has increased almost 8 percent since 2008, reaching 23.3 percent in 2013 in the EU-28 countries. In Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, around a fourth of 15- to 24-year-olds are unemployed; in Greece close to 60 percent of youth were unemployed in 2013. Long spells of unemployment expose individuals to impoverishment. They can also lead to deterioration of skills and detachment from the labor market. Youth unemployment is particularly concerning as it risks damaging longer-term employment prospects for young people, leading them to face higher risks of exclusion and poverty. Youth unemployment also has growth implications as a generation of educated and productive people are not working at their potential. Finally, very high levels of youth unemployment for long periods of time can become a threat to social stability.
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Economic growth is expected to almost double in EU111 in 2014, and continues to strengthen in 2015. Overall EU11 GDP growth is forecast to strengthen from 1.4 percent in 2013 to 2.6 percent in 2014.
... See More + The initial reliance on net export growth, with rising demand from the rest of the EU, is gradually giving way to more balanced growth as domestic demand picks-up, notably in Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Fiscal consolidation will continue in 2014 and 2015, but at a more gradual pace than in the previous years. The overall EU11 fiscal deficit is expected to drop to 2.9 percent of GDP in 2014 and to 2.5 percent of GDP in 2015. However, there is a need for larger adjustments in Croatia and Slovenia to achieve sustainable deficit and debt levels. Economic growth forecasts in the EU11 are subject to multiple risks, mainly on the downside, as the global financial situation remains fragile. While labor market conditions have started to improve, the pace of job creation and reduction in unemployment rates are likely to be gradual.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 92859 JUL 01, 2014
According to the latest data from Eurostat, more than 124 million people in the European Union, almost 25 percent of EU citizens, are at risk of poverty or social exclusio
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This report presents a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of Bulgaria's workforce development (WfD) policies and institutions. The results are based on a new World Bank tool designed for this purpose, SABER-WfD.
... See More + SABER-WfD is part of the World Bank's initiative on Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) whose aim is to provide systematic assessment and documentation of the policy and institutional factors that influence the performance of key areas of national education and training systems. The SABER-WfD tool encompasses initial, continuing and targeted vocational education and training that are offered through multiple channels and focuses largely on programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
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The Bulgarian labor market has suffered from the economic crisis, and cyclical unemployment has turned into structural unemployment. The labor market crisis is amplified by demographic change as the young and skilled labor force emigrates, aggravating a skills mismatch.
... See More + Vulnerable groups are served by up to five different agencies, depending on the type of services required: the (1) public employment service; (2) social assistance agency; (3) national security institute; (4) ministry of education; and (5) national and territorial expert medical commissions. Cooperation between the labor offices, the social assistance directorates and municipalities is focused mainly on administrative functions and rule enforcement, rather than on labor market inclusion and promotion. This report reviews the design and implementation of activation policies for social assistance recipients and other highly disadvantaged groups in Bulgaria. The report starts by providing an overview of recent labor market trends, including the impact of the economic crisis on the labor market, in general, and on vulnerable groups, in particular. Chapter two describes and analyses the institutional setting for the design and implementation of Bulgaria's activation strategy and policies, as well as institutional capacity and cooperation between institutions. Chapter three analyses the impact of the benefit system on activation. Chapter four reviews the activation process and the implementation of the mutual obligation principle and the targeting of services provided to disadvantaged groups. Chapter five reviews active labor market programs and investigates to what extent these programs are targeted towards disadvantaged groups, which types of programs are prioritized, as well as reviewing the development of funding for active measures and programs.
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This report presents a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of Bulgaria's workforce development (WfD) policies and institutions. The results are based on a new World Bank tool designed for this purpose, SABER-WfD.
... See More + SABER-WfD is part of the World Bank's initiative on Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) whose aim is to provide systematic assessment and documentation of the policy and institutional factors that influence the performance of key areas of national education and training systems. The SABER-WfD tool encompasses initial, continuing and targeted vocational education and training that are offered through multiple channels and focuses largely on programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
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Economic growth is expected to almost double in EU11 (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia) in 2014, and continue to strengthen in 2015.
... See More + The northern countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania will continue to be amongst the fastest growing countries in the EU, despite the negative impact of falling external demand as growth slows in their main trading partners. Croatia is the only country expected to remain in recession, for a sixth consecutive year, in 2014, as declining domestic demand continues to outweigh export growth. Recovery is expected to be gradual, with growth not reaching pre-crisis rates for some time. Inflation rates are expected to remain below targets during 2014, with some countries already experiencing deflation, but as global commodity prices stabilize, activity increases and output gaps diminish, inflation is expected to gradually rise. Fiscal consolidation will continue in 2014 and 2015, but at a more gradual pace than in the previous years. Economic growth forecasts in the EU11 are subject to multiple risks, mainly on the downside, as the global financial situation remains fragile. Rising global interest rates coupled with volatile capital markets, or an extended period of regional geopolitical tensions could slow the European recovery and constrain exports, credit and investment in EU11. While labor market conditions have started to improve, the pace of job creation and reduction in unemployment rates are likely to be gradual. Many of the economies in the EU11 face the twin challenge of high youth unemployment and rapidly aging populations. EU11 countries also struggle with equipping the next generation with the skills necessary to achieve their full potential e.g. in literacy, math and science. The persistence of large numbers of inactive and unemployed youth therefore poses unique risks of creating a "lost generation" of workers. Understanding the cyclical and structural nature of youth unemployment is therefore important to mitigate the potentially damaging cycle between youth unemployment and broader economic growth and productivity.
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Economic prospects for the 11 European Union (EU) member states that joined after 2004 started to improve during 2013, as the situation in the Euro area stabilized and domestic policies bolstered growth.
... See More + Economic growth across the EU11 is expected to continue to pick up in 2014 and to become more balanced, with rising domestic demand. Fiscal adjustment will resume in 2014, with domestic demand helping to rebuild revenue, but at a relatively gradual pace in order to support economic growth. Rising global interest rates coupled with volatile capital markets, can slow the Euro area recovery and hamper domestic demand, particularly investment, in EU11. The bottom forty percent in the EU11 tends to be concentrated in low skilled, young or older unemployed, and minority groups. Countries will need to accelerate economic growth and job creation, in an environment in which fiscal and credit constraints are more binding and household coping mechanisms have been weakened by the crisis. This report covers economic developments, prospects, and policies in 11 EU member states- Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. The regular economic report (RER) comprises two parts: a macroeconomic report, and a special topic on an issue of economic policy interest in EU11.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 83426 DEC 01, 2013
This memorandum summarizes the outputs under the European Union (EU) equity and gender technical assistance (TA) task. The development objectives of the task are: (a) to support the Bank's clients in the Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Baltics (ECCU5) country grouping in managing the effects of the growth slowdown and fiscal consolidation, and (b) deepen the Bank's own understanding of the equity and gender implications of slower growth and budget tightening.
... See More + Although primarily a TA task, some of the activities also generate knowledge products (KP). As this was the first time in years for the Bank to have a poverty-focused task in the ECCU5 countries, activities were selected on the basis of three criteria: (i) support to country programs, (ii) diagnostics and analytical due diligence (shared prosperity note), or (iii) opportunistic engagement with clients (gender diagnostics and analysis). Based on the criteria identified, the team delivered a set of TA and KP analytical products based on demand from clients and country management units. The activities consisted of: (i) poverty and gender diagnostics for Croatia and Poland fed directly into the country partnership strategy (CPS) and development policy loans (DPL) documents, (ii) technical inputs to the government of Poland, including a study on the gender pay gap and contributions to a workshop on poverty measurement and distributional analysis, and (iii) a note analyzing well-being in the Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia (EU11) countries, focusing on the Bank's new shared prosperity goal.
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Romania's European Union accession in 2007 has resulted in a substantial reduction of the formal barriers to integration with the European Union Single Market.
... See More + This study takes stock of the progress by benchmarking product market policies in Romania to those of European Union countries, as measured by the OECD indicators of Product Market Regulation. These indicators allow for a comprehensive mapping of policies affecting competition in product markets. Comparison with European Union countries reveals that, for half of the policy areas covered by the study, Romania's product market policies are more restrictive of competition than most direct comparators in the region, whereas for other indicators Romania is on a par with the European Union average or has achieved best practice. Nonetheless, these results should be interpreted in light of the fact that the Product Market Regulation approach measures officially adopted policies and does not capture implementation. Future reforms should be directed both at improving official regulation and, where policies that favor competition are already in place, toward effective enforcement.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6698 NOV 01, 2013
De Rosa, Donato; Iootty, Mariana; Pirlea, Florina; Aprahamian, Arabela; Stanescu, Alexandru
The national severance pay scheme, its regulation in the law and in other sources, its practice and practical application, and all the amendments of the statutory basis are the consequence of considering individual and social implications of the termination of an employment contract or the termination of employment, in one of the ways regulated by the Labor Act.
... See More + The term 'severance pay' in the Republic of Croatia is most often defined as the pecuniary amount, which the employer pays to the worker, for whom it terminates the employment contract, besides the worker's salary. This amount belongs to the worker after the expiry of the period of notice, after the termination of the employment contract. Although it has be originally conceived as reward to the workers for their loyalty to the employer, in essence the severance pay should alleviate the negative consequences of the dismissal for the worker, and it is frequently considered a means of ensuring an income, or a replacement income, so that it contains elements of social security. Each change in the national severance pay scheme is necessarily connected with redefining and newly balancing worker's and employer's interests, with aspects of employment security and flexibility and it requires processing and analyzing various aspects of the national severance pay scheme. To this end, this report aims to present and analyze all the interconnected determinants of the national severance pay scheme, such as: overview of theoretical qualifications and determinants within the national severance pay scheme; overview of arrangements within the national severance pay scheme through legal and other regulatory arrangements; overview of arrangements in different comparable national severance pay schemes; special overview of the current reforms of the severance pay scheme in the context of other relevant countries; presenting the plan for the amendments to legal and other regulatory arrangements; assessing the practical implications of the planned amendments to legal and regulatory arrangements and their effects on the national severance pay scheme; and final proposals and comments. With this, the current definitions and arrangements within the severance pay scheme would be lost, and a new scheme would be set up, which is mostly based on the characteristics of a globally innovative model for a reformed severance pay scheme as exists in the Republic of Austria.
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The national severance pay scheme, its regulation in the law and in other sources, its practice and practical application, and all the amendments of the statutory basis are the consequence of considering individual and social implications of the termination of an employment contract or the termination of employment, in one of the ways regulated by the Labor Act.
... See More + The term 'severance pay' in the Republic of Croatia is most often defined as the pecuniary amount, which the employer pays to the worker, for whom it terminates the employment contract, besides the worker's salary. This amount belongs to the worker after the expiry of the period of notice, after the termination of the employment contract. Although it has be originally conceived as reward to the workers for their loyalty to the employer, in essence the severance pay should alleviate the negative consequences of the dismissal for the worker, and it is frequently considered a means of ensuring an income, or a replacement income, so that it contains elements of social security. Each change in the national severance pay scheme is necessarily connected with redefining and newly balancing worker's and employer's interests, with aspects of employment security and flexibility and it requires processing and analyzing various aspects of the national severance pay scheme. To this end, this report aims to present and analyze all the interconnected determinants of the national severance pay scheme, such as: overview of theoretical qualifications and determinants within the national severance pay scheme; overview of arrangements within the national severance pay scheme through legal and other regulatory arrangements; overview of arrangements in different comparable national severance pay schemes; special overview of the current reforms of the severance pay scheme in the context of other relevant countries; presenting the plan for the amendments to legal and other regulatory arrangements; assessing the practical implications of the planned amendments to legal and regulatory arrangements and their effects on the national severance pay scheme; and final proposals and comments. With this, the current definitions and arrangements within the severance pay scheme would be lost, and a new scheme would be set up, which is mostly based on the characteristics of a globally innovative model for a reformed severance pay scheme as exists in the Republic of Austria.
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