HOW DO NEW EU MEMBER STATES COMPLY WITH THE FLEXICURITY CONCEPT?

Abstract. The paper analyses the state of implementation of flexicurity policy components in the NMS and, by using panel regression analysis, estimates the impact of employment protection legislation, expenditures for active employment policies, participation in lifelong learning and net replacement rate on labour productivity and on long-term unemployment. The empirical analysis has shown that the labour markets in the NMS, on the overall, are not more rigid as compared to the EU-15; however, problematic remains low expenditure on active labour market policies, education and social protection, and the low participation in lifelong learning. NMS must, according to the results of the panel linear regression, improve their performance in the mentioned areas in order to improve their labour productivity and decrease long-term unemployment.Key words: flexicurity, labour market, labour productivity, long-term unemployment, European Union