Conference Paper

As a European Union (EU) candidate country, Macedonia is formally obliged to comply and adjust its social policies with the new Europe 2020 targets. In the social domain, this implies increase in employment and tertiary education rates, combined with the reduction of poverty and social exclusion. In addition to the targets, the Europe 2020 proposes new indicators according to which progress should be measured. Taking into consideration the negative structural conditions, such as high unemployment and poverty rates in Macedonia, it is expected that the new EU framework will have major implications on the national social policy agenda. The aim of this paper is two fold. First, by providing comparative data on poverty and social exclusion in the EU member and candidate countries based on Europe 2020 indictors, it strives to show the differences in poverty rates measured according to a variety of indicators. Secondly, by applying the Europe 2020 estimations of poverty and social exclusion in Macedonia, it attempts to show the differences in poverty rate as well as categories at risk with those generated from the current official data in the country. Apart from these two general aims, this paper also assesses possible implications from the Europe 2020 in relation to strategic redefinitions of the national social policy. In addition to the literature review and comparative statistical analysis, the work in this paper is also based on quantitative research, involving a representative sample of 1602 households, whose responses formed a basis for calculating poverty and social exclusion in Macedonia, according to the Europe 2020 indicators.i