What is the Future of Public Expenditure in the European Countries?

The 20th century experienced major changes in the structure and conception of the welfare state, mainly as a result of demographic, economic and social changes. This was accompanied by a multiple increase in public expenditure in the social sector and the welfare state has found itself in a crisis since the 1990's. Given the fiscal unsustainability of the present social systems, measures and reforms addressing the fiscal crisis of the welfare state are being introduced. The European Union introduces some measures at the central level; however, the social systems in the individual countries are unique and historically shaped. The current keynote is to narrow down the role of the state to the provider of basic social protection and encourage the general public towards more responsible behaviour. The objective of this paper is to assess the current social expenditure of the EU member countries (compared to the OECD) and identify their fiscal trend, including the assessment of social expenditure in selected countries.