Defining Poland's official position towards European social policy initiatives is difficult, because as a result of parliamentary elections in the autumn of 2005 the right-wing Law and Justice Party took power and announced a radical political transformation. The former left-wing liberal government declared support for modernising the European social model (ESM), focusing on employability and vocational activation. Instead, the present ruling elite seem to emphasise the need to ‘maintain the European social model based on solidarity’. This emphasis may signify a major shift in the approach to adapting Polish solutions to the concept of the ESM: a weakening of the commitment to implement modernisation processes in favour of maintaining existing solutions in Poland.

The slogan of social solidarity, as opposed to liberalism, was one of the pillars of the parliamentary campaign of the winning party. However, so far the present government has not incorporated this position into its social programme. Thus social policy is at an intermediate stage, that is, abandonment of the earlier approach is not accompanied by a clear indication of the scope of change.

The European social model versus the Polish model

The social model of Poland, shaped by the reforms of the transformation period, is a mix of conservative-corporate elements and elements of a liberal model (on typologies, see Esping-Andersen, 1999). The model comprises both the Bismarckian tradition of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the most contemporary reforms dominated by liberal trends.

Poland's spending on social protection at about 23-24% of GDP (gross domestic product) is roughly at the average European level. Social transfers equal around 18% of GDP and are among the highest in the European Union (EU). Spending is dominated by cash benefits, replacing employment earnings (pensions). By contrast, expenditure on social services is very low (Woycicka, 2003). The main reasons for the relatively high poverty rate experienced by Poland are unemployment and poor economic activity. The past 16 years in Poland have been characterised by an increasing number of economically inactive citizens, high unemployment and fast differentiation of income. These outcomes obviously result from a rapid and exceptional restructuring of the economy, with the overlapping of processes generated by the globalisation of the economy and those of the transformation of the system.