According to a Council of the EU summary of an evaluation of the impact assessment based on written answers from national delegations, which EUROPE read on Friday 15 January, a majority of Member States believe that European action to set minimum wages in the EU is, “at least partly, clearly demonstrated”.
A majority of delegations is of the opinion that the necessity and added value of EU action is demonstrated, while some pointed to the lack of consistency with the principle of subsidiarity and the problem of the proportionality of the measures proposed with regard to economic models.
It comes as no surprise that the summary mentions some delegations - the Scandinavian countries are particularly cautious about the proposal - which would have welcomed better consideration of a “no EU action” option.
Some national delegations expressed regret that the employers’ point of view (they did not want a legislative initiative - see EUROPE 12436/21) was not better represented. Several felt that further explanations should have been given on the choice of a directive.
Similarly, several delegations felt that the European Commission’s justification of the legal basis was not sufficiently clearly explained. The Council of the EU’s Legal Service was asked to provide a legal opinion last year, but has not yet delivered its verdict (see EUROPE 12615/4).
At a general level, most Member States pointed to the challenge of comparing data. There are significant differences in national wage-setting patterns and related data collection practices are uneven or even non-existent in some Member States. A number of delegations would therefore have welcomed more clarity on the information sources and monitoring indicators.
The delegations will discuss the issue again at an informal videoconference of the Social Questions Working Party on 20 January 2021.
The document can be found at: http://bit.ly/2LAtfvm (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)