28/01/2020 (Agence Europe) – As the European Commission launched a consultation on an instrument to establish a "fair" minimum wage in the EU (see EUROPE 12403/5), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) published a study on Tuesday 28 January showing that minimum wages in 17 Member States do not protect against the risk of poverty. Twenty-two EU Member States have a statutory national minimum wage and the majority of them do not reach the minimum at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is 60% of the median wage, the ETUC highlights in its statement, adding that in ten Member States the statutory minimum wage is 50% or less of the national median wage. Trade unions point in particular to Spain, the Czech Republic and Estonia, which have the lowest statutory minimum wage levels in relation to the median wage. (PH)