INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES IN AMALGAMATED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

Abstract

Integration of Ukraine into the European political, economic, and legal space to obtain EU membership is a fundamental principle of our state's foreign policy. One of the tasks on the way to achieving this goal is the adaptation of social policy to European standards. Creating conditions for Ukraine's EU membership primarily means the need to study the experience of European countries in providing social services and conducting relevant reforms in amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs).
Analysis of the experience of providing social services in Germany, France, Great Britain, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland suggests that the organization, functioning, structuring, and financing of the national social system mainly depend on the historical, political, and social traditions of each of these countries, i.e., they have their own models of providing social services. However, a common feature is that their social policy is aimed not only at protecting people from social risks (loss of income due to illness, disability, and old age, etc.), but also at preventing sharp material and social inequality, ensuring a sufficiently high level of social support and assistance to vulnerable populations, and providing all citizens with real access to vital quality social services (healthcare, education, etc.). Social services are not only about overcoming obstacles that caused the need for these services, but also aimed at preventing them. In Europe, the provision of social services has always been one of the most important state functions. Social benefits are the most significant in the provision of social services.
The difference between countries in spending on the provision of social services in ATCs is related to different levels of wealth, and also reflects the diversity of social protection systems, demographic trends, unemployment rates, and other social, institutional, and economic 1 factors.