Social policy measures and the social security systems in the EU stabilised GDP and employment noticeably during the recent financial and economic crisis. In terms of their size automatic stabilisers were particularly important. Discretionary social policy measures aiming at the stabilisation of...

Social policy measures and the social systems markedly mitigated the effects of the severe financial and economic crisis in 2009 and 2010. The largest contribution to the stabilisation resulted from the automatic stabilisers, whose effects vary between countries. On the revenue side they are...