Europe Speaks: A TEPSA Podcast
Oct 20, 2026 · 28 min · 10 segments
When candidate countries adopt EU social rules, do citizens’ lives actually change? What does it take to build resilient societies on the path to EU membership? This final episode looks at social…
Séamus BolandGuestLevan KakhishviliGuestNino AbzianidzeGuestMariam KhotenashviliHostWe examined seven countries, Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine.
And in all cases, we observe increased alignment with the EU social legislation among the candidate countries.
First of all, we can observe that different countries have taken different paths to this progress.
Countries like Albania and North Macedonia have reached almost 80% of convergence with the EU legislation in social policy.
And then we can also observe in some cases very gradual progression, while in others, like for example Georgia, we can see that a single episode of reforms have increased the alignment dramatically.
From these different patterns, we can then explore what are the causes of swift or gradual progression and so on.
But at the same time, what is very important to bear in mind is the EU legislation itself.
Very often, EU is criticized for the lack of competence in social policy or leaning towards more liberal policies in its legislation.
So at different times, different candidate countries had different degrees of convergence.
For example, if you look at Albania, about 10 years ago, it was at the 85% level of alignment, while in 2024, it is at around 77, 78%.
are some of the points that are also important when we talk about the legal convergence between catered countries and the EU.
We examined seven countries, Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine.
And in all cases, we observe increased alignment with the EU social legislation among the candidate countries.
First of all, we can observe that different countries have taken different paths to this progress.
Countries like Albania and North Macedonia have reached almost 80% of convergence with the EU legislation in social policy.
And then we can also observe in some cases very gradual progression, while in others, like for example Georgia, we can see that a single episode of reforms have increased the alignment dramatically.
From these different patterns, we can then explore what are the causes of swift or gradual progression and so on.
But at the same time, what is very important to bear in mind is the EU legislation itself.
Very often, EU is criticized for the lack of competence in social policy or leaning towards more liberal policies in its legislation.
So at different times, different candidate countries had different degrees of convergence.
For example, if you look at Albania, about 10 years ago, it was at the 85% level of alignment, while in 2024, it is at around 77, 78%.
are some of the points that are also important when we talk about the legal convergence between catered countries and the EU.
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