The French Presidency of the EU Council and the European Parliament negotiating group will meet for a first interinstitutional meeting (or trilogue) on the Directive on adequate minimum wages on Thursday 13 January, starting at noon.
As usual, this will be a fairly short meeting where the positions of both parties will be detailed. The positions of the co-legislators are particularly far apart on many key aspects of the draft legislation.
The EU Council sought to make the text as flexible as possible in order to safeguard national specificities and in accordance with the division of competences under the European treaties (see EUROPE 12847/1), whereas Parliament pursued a general strengthening of the provisions (see EUROPE 12831/19) of the European Commission’s proposal (originally very flexible - see EUROPE 12591/8).
The most critical issues will be how to calculate the adequacy of statutory minimum wages and the coverage rates for collective bargaining, among others.
The date for the second trilogue is not yet known. It is expected to be confirmed after the meeting on Thursday.
France hopes to reach a political agreement in the “first months” of its Presidency (see EUROPE 12864/11). A very ambitious goal, in the eyes of some observers and experts on the legislative file. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)