Conference on Economic and Social Dimensions of EU Enlargement Brussels, 16 November 2000 Session 3 : Social Security Reform: Is It a Different Issue for Accession Countries? A Note by Michal Rutkowski The World Bank In this note, a question is asked whether social security system changes and challenges are different for accession countries than for those already belonging to the European Union (EU). In section 1, we look at the direction of reforms of the social security systems. Section 2 compares long term balances of PAYG systems. Section 3 looks at other factors that determine the direction of future changes. Section 4 lists key challenges and opportunities for accession countries in the social security area, and at accession costs. Particular attention is given to pension systems, as they constitute by far the largest element of social security. To capture relevant elements in parts of the note the EU group is broadened to incorporate other high income west European countries, such as Switzerland, and a term Western Europe (WE) is used. Correspondingly, the accession countries group is broadened to cover other countries within the region which aim at joining the accession group soon, such as Croatia. The group together is called Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). MORE...