THE IMPACT OF THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE LABOR MARKET AND SOCIAL POLICY

Predmet rada je analiza utjecaja članstva Republike Hrvatske u Europskoj uniji na tržište rada i socijalnu politiku. Nezaposlenost i siromaštvo postali su globalni problem današnjice jer se sve više stanovništva suočava s gubitkom posla, a kao posljedica gubitka posla i nemogućnost pronalaska novog javlja se siromaštvo. Ekonomska kriza gotovo uvijek pogađa one najosjetljivije u društvu te mlade koji se tek spremaju ući na tržište rada. Pristupanjem Hrvatske Europskoj uniji nije u potpunosti riješen problem nezaposlenosti, ali Hrvatskoj kao članici pružene su brojne mogućnosti kao što su sloboda kretanja radnika, prava iz socijalne sigurnosti što je djelomično riješilo problem dugotrajne nezaposlenosti u Hrvatskoj. Od ulaska Hrvatske u Europsku uniju stopa nezaposlenosti zasigurno se smanjila jer je sloboda kretanja radnika omogućila prelazak iz područja visoke nezaposlenosti u područja gdje postoji potražnja za radnom snagom. Međutim, zabrinjavajuća je činjenica da najviše odlaze mlade, ali i obitelji s djecom na kojima bi se trebao zasnivati mirovinski sustav Republike Hrvatske.The topic is analysis of the impact related to membership in the European Union on the labor market and social policy in the Republic of Croatia. Unemployment and poverty became the global problem of today because more and more people are losing their jobs and they are unable to find a new one, which results in poverty. Economic crises almost always impact the most vulnerable and sensitive in the population, such as young people who are just preparing to enter the workforce. By becoming a member of the European Union, Croatia did not solve the unemployment problem in full. However, being a member it has been given a number of possibilities like free movement of workforce, rights from social security which solved the problem of long term unemployment. Since becoming a member of the European Union, Croatia's unemployment rate has dropped because free movement of workers allowed transition of people from high unemployment areas to areas which lacked workforce. However, concerning fact is that mostly young people and families with children, on whom the pension system should be based, are moving out