ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that post-communist welfare is a highly plural and diverse institutional architecture. It shows Europeanization as fundamentally and predominantly a bottom-up process, in which the focus is directed towards the domestic rather than the supranational. The chapter explains that the Czech Republic also represents a diverging case. It explores the convergence debate within the context of the current economic crisis. According to the SPC-EC forecast, the Baltic States see the biggest rise of welfare expenditure as a share of GDP between 2007 and 2010 in the whole of the European Union (EU). Poland and Hungary also have two of the lowest average ages for withdrawal from the labour market in the EU, not least because early retirement schemes are widely available. The Social Protection Committee in its Report on the Growth, Jobs and Social Progress in the EU also concludes that Social protection system can play a crucial role as automatic stabilisers.
