The European Social Services Index (ESSI) is an initiative launched by the European Social Network (ESN) in 2023 to better understand and compare the situation of social services in different European Union (EU) Member States.
Each year, with support from our ESSI Working Group, we gather national data on several countries’ social services legislation, financing, coverage, and policies. In 2026, we collected data from 19 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
The data collected helps us provide evidence for the European Commission to formulate its recommendations to national governments within the framework of the European Semester – an annual review of national economic, social, and budgetary policies aimed at identifying socio-economic challenges in EU Member States and formulating proposals on how they could address these. ESN is involved in this process to ensure the European Commission fully understands the situation of social services and that its recommendations meet social services’ needs.
This meeting will bring together members of our ESSI Working Group and European Commission officials to discuss the evidence we gathered and assess how it can feed into the European Semester.
Programme
Tuesday, 13 October
13:30-14:00 Welcome and 2026 ESSI: Key Findings
- Christian Fillet, Chair of the Board, European Social Network
- David Weytsman, President, Public Centre for Social Welfare – City of Brussels, Belgium
- Alfonso Lara Montero, Chief Executive Officer, European Social Network
14:00-14:40 2026 European Semester: Key Findings
Katia Berti, Head of Unit – Employment and Social Aspects of the European Semester, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
14:40-15:50 Social Services Coordination
- Ivanka Shalapatova, Independent Consultant
- Federica Mancini, National Institute for Public Policy Analysis, Italy
- Edgar Diogo, Union of Portuguese Mutualities & Pedro Saraiva, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Portugal
- Graham Owen, Association of Directors of Social Welfare Services of Sweden, & Matilda Hansson, National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden
16:20-17:30 Poverty and Social Inclusion
- Ivanka Shalapatova, Independent Consultant
- Špela Zupan, Association of Centres for Social Work, Slovenia
- Marie Herborg Krogh, Executives of Danish Local Government Welfare Services, Denmark
- Riikka Väyrynen, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
17:30-17:45 Wrap-up
Alfonso Lara Montero, Chief Executive Officer, European Social Network
Wednesday, 14 October
09:00-10:10 Child Social Welfare
- Ivanka Shalapatova, Independent Consultant
- Fotini Marini, University of West Attica – Social Administration Research Laboratory, Greece
- Caroline Strong, Irish Association of Social Workers, Ireland
- Sandra Abela, Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Malta
10:10-11:20 Long-term Care
- Ivanka Shalapatova, Independent Consultant
- Iva Munzar, Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy & Zorana Uzelac Bošnjak, Zagreb City Council – Department for Social Protection and People with Disabilities, Croatia
- Ieva Adomaityte-Subačiene, Vilnius University – Institute of Sociology and Social Work, Lithuania
- Valio Hristov, Bulgarian Association of Social Workers, Bulgaria
11:40-12:50 WG Discussions
12:50-13:00 Closing
Alfonso Lara Montero, Chief Executive Officer, European Social Network
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