Commission Report (2002): Poland

• Progress since the last Regular Report
• Overall assessment
• Conclusion

Chapter 13: Social policy and employment

Progress since the last Regular Report

Some progress has been made in this area since the last Regular Report.

In the field of Labour Law, most amendments made to the Labour Code in August 2001 entered into force in January 2002. These amendments aim to further align Poland's legislation with the acquis on a range of issues including, fully or partly, the Directives on the protection of young people at work, the employment contract, the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings and the health and safety of fixed term and temporary workers. A Law on European Works Council was adopted in April 2002 and will enter into force upon accession.

The acquis on equal treatment for women and men has been largely transposed by the above-mentioned amendments to the Labour Code of August 2001 which entered into force in January 2002. In October 2001, a Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men was established. An Ordinance adopted by the Council of Ministers in June 2002 has extended the competence of the Plenipotentiary.

In the area of health and safety at work, the legislation adopted since the last Regular Report partly transposes Directives in the field of mineral-extracting industries, safety signs and personal protective equipment.

There were a few developments in the area of social dialogue. The Law on the Tripartite Commission for Social and Economic Issues and on voivodship commissions for social dialogue of August 2001 entered into force in October 2001, and providing tripartite social dialogue institution with an appropriate legal basis. On the basis of this law, voivodship commissions of tripartite social dialogue started to operate in March 2002.

Regarding public health, an important step forward was the partial entry into force in January 2002 of the September 2001 Law on combating communicable diseases and infections. There was further alignment with the tobacco acquis, though it falls short of satisfying the current acquis. Work was undertaken to develop the health monitoring system with a view to obtaining health indicators comparable with those of the EU. The Government also adopted a National Health Care programme aiming to replace the 17 regional health funds established in 1999 with a single fund, the National Health Care Fund, with 16 regional divisions from January 2003 onwards. The health status of the Polish population is still lower than the EU average.

In terms of Employment Policy, the Joint Assessment of Employment Priorities (JAP) was signed in January 2001. As part of the monitoring process of the Employment Policy Review, a progress report on the implementation of the priorities identified in the JAP was submitted by Poland in July 2002. This report is an important step in assessing the extent to which Poland is progressing towards its objectives of labour market reform and adaptation of its employment system in order to prepare for future participation in the European Employment Strategy after accession.

The labour market situation did not improve during the reference period. The unemployment rate continued to increase from 16.3% in 2000 to 18.4% in 2001. The unemployment rate for women (20%) is higher than for men (17%). Long term unemployment is high and still increasing. In 2001 the share of long term unemployed was 50%. Youth unemployment continues to be the most serious problem, in particular for poorly educated school leavers with primary or vocational education but also, to a lesser extent, for well-educated university graduates. The situation varies by region. The Government's Economic Strategy for 2002--2005, adopted in January 2002, provides for a variety of measures aimed at improving the employment situation, notably amendments to the Labour Code increasing the flexibility of the labour market which were adopted in July 2002 and programmes such as the First Job Programme, stimulating the creation of jobs for school leavers. This programme became operational in June 2002.

As regards measures to be financed under the European Social Fund, the description of measures, project selection criteria and final beneficiaries under the Sectoral Operational Programme `Human Resources Development' on the one hand and in the section on human resources development within the Integrated Regional Operational Programme on the other hand has started. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy was appointed as Managing Authority for the Human Resources Development Sectoral Operational Programme.

As a follow-up to the Gothenburg European Council, where the EU invited the candidate countries to translate the EU objectives into their national policies, the Commission and Poland have initiated a joint co-operation exercise to prepare for future participation in the EU social inclusion process after accession. This exercise consists in joint identification of the social exclusion challenges and relevant policy responses. In this context, the Polish Central Statistical Office co-operates with Eurostat to produce data on poverty and social exclusion. Preliminary figures suggest that overall income disparities seem to be relatively high, as is the poverty rate after social transfers (16%).

As regards other areas of social protection, significant progress was made in setting up a computer system in the Social Insurance Board (ZUS), operational since June 2002 which should allow implementation of the pension reform which has suffered serious delays in the previous years.

As regards anti-discrimination, Poland adopted an ordinance in June 2002 which mandates the Plenipotentiary for the Equal Status of Women and Men to establish, as required by the acquis, an office for combating discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation. Until this body is established the plenipotentiary will carry out these tasks (see also section B.1.2 -- Human Rights and Protection of minorities).

Overall assessment

The Labour Code will need further amendments to ensure full alignment in the field of Labour Law (working time, part-time work, employment contract, collective redundancies, posting of workers). The Law on special conditions for the termination of employment for reasons relating to the employer will also be modified to further align with the collective redundancies provisions. Following the liquidation of the National Labour Office in April 2002, Poland will need to appoint a new liaison office responsible for the obligations resulting from the Posting of Workers Directive. Poland will need to take steps to ensure workers' information and consultation in enterprises where workers are not represented by trade unions.

Further legislative alignment is necessary to complete the process in the field of equal treatment for women and men, notably as regards parental leave.

Poland's alignment and enforcement of the acquis on health and safety at work still requires considerable effort. This applies in particular to the necessary secondary legislation including chemicals, carcinogens and asbestos.

Social dialogue mechanisms, notably the establishment of sectoral dialogue committees, and preparation of social partners for active participation in social dialogue at European level will need to be strengthened further.

In the field of public health, Poland should continue its efforts to fully align with the tobacco acquis. Following the progress in adopting the communicable diseases legislation, a substantial implementation and enforcement effort will now be required in particular with regard to the following: outbreak management, systematic vigilance, greater data analysis, laboratory capability strengthening, data confidentiality, rapid response capability and implementation of EC case definitions. Efforts also need to be continued to further adjust the health monitoring system to obtain health indicators comparable with those of the European Union. Efforts to improve the health status of the population should be continued. The devotion of adequate resources to health should be ensured.

Regarding employment, the Joint Assessment of the employment priorities for Poland (JAP), represented an important step in the preparations for accession. Progress in the implementation of these policies is assessed regularly and it will be important to ensure effective monitoring of the phasing-in of the priorities and commitments contained in the JAP. Particular attention has to be given to low-skilled workers, to increase the education level and to adapt qualifications to labour requirements. The public employment system needs improvement in terms of administrative capacity (greater organisational consistency and upgrading of staff qualifications). Employment policies need to be focused on preventive and active measures.

Preparations for the European Social Fund need to be intensified so as to facilitate the absorption of funds after accession. In particular, the administrative capacity of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy as well as of future intermediate bodies and final beneficiaries (for example the Ministry of Education and Sport, the Voivodship Labour Offices) will need to be enhanced, notably in the areas of monitoring, audit and financial control. The timely functioning of an effective IT system for financial and physical monitoring of ESF interventions needs to be guaranteed.

A national integrated strategy on promoting social inclusion, taking into account the EU objectives, needs to be drawn up and then implemented. As poverty and social exclusion are multi-dimensional by nature, it is important to promote an integrated approach mobilising various governmental bodies and all relevant stakeholders in the process. It is also crucial to improve and develop social statistics systems on poverty and social exclusion in line with the EU commonly agreed indicators on social inclusion.

In other areas of social protection, efforts need to be sustained to implement earlier reforms such as the health care and pension reform.

Full transposition and implementation of the anti-Discrimination Directives will require a further amendment of the Labour Code as well as other changes to the legal framework in order to transpose the aspects of the acquis which do not relate to employment. The Plenipotentiary for equal status of women and men still needs to establish an anti-discrimination body.

Conclusion

In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that many legislative adjustments were needed in the field of health and safety at work to ensure alignment with EU standards, and efforts to implement the acquis effectively would need to be continued. It was further noted that provided Poland pursued its efforts, in terms of adoption and of application of the EC acquis, it was likely to be able to take on the social acquis in the medium term.

Since the Opinion, overall progress in aligning with the acquis has been achieved. In particular, good progress has been made in the spheres of labour law, equal treatment, public health and social dialogue. Compared to the reasonable level of alignment with the acquis, the development of administrative capacity has not followed at the same rate and capacity in this field remains modest.

Negotiations on this chapter have been provisionally closed. Poland has been granted a transitional arrangement (until 31 December 2005) for work equipment installed before 31 December 2002. Poland is generally meeting the commitments it made in the accession negotiations in this field.

In order to be ready for membership, Poland should focus further efforts on completing transposition (amendments to the Labour Code, occupational health and safety, tobacco and anti-discrimination) effectively implementing the acquis in the areas of equal treatment, public health, social dialogue, and strengthening the active employment measures and the preparation for European Social Fund implementation. Adoption of the amendment to the Labour Code as well as implementing measures hereunder in the legislative pipeline and foreseen for adoption before the end of the year would do much to further alignment with the acquis in the fields of labour law, anti-discrimination and occupational health and safety.

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