Resumen de Social protection and enlargement: challenges for the candidate countries and the European Union

Henri Lourdelle

• The central and eastern European countries have undergone radical change, both political and social, since the start of the 1990s. Social protection systems have not been immune to the upheavals. But how should these countries go about establishing pension and healthcare schemes which reconcile the need both for reform and solidarity? How can they resist the temptation to privatise their social security systems, while seeking to keep costs under control and rationalise resources? This article takes stock of the reforms undertaken by these countries in the field of both pensions and health systems, exploring the motivations behind them and their compatibility with the models currently existing within the European Union.