Latvia faces major challenges in relation to healthcare and poverty, particularly as regards adequate social protection, and access to affordable housing. It suffered sharp economic decline as a result of the crisis and then further pain as austerity measures promoted by the European Commission resulted in massive cuts in public spending. Latvia is not an austerity success story and urgent and major action is needed to reduce poverty, address housing shortages and turn the ailing health system around.
The report Focus on Latvia proposes suggestions from the Semester Alliance of the kinds of Country Specific Recommendations that are needed in 2017 to begin to tackle the major challenges across these three policy areas.
On 20 September, the European Semester Alliance held a capacity building session for its members. It was hosted by the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI), with the participation of 18 Alliance members from a wide range of social, environmental NGOs and trade unions.
