At an event organised at the European Parliament by the S&D group on Wednesday 20 November, the outgoing European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, called on the new Commission to ensure that all Member States transpose the European directive on adequate minimum wages “as quickly as possible”, despite the fact that only 15 Member States have indicated that they have met the transposition deadline of 15 November.
While the deadline for transposing the objective of achieving at least 80% of European workers covered by a collective bargaining system has been set for 2025, the outgoing Commissioner also pointed out that coverage by collective bargaining is currently on a downward slope.
Adopted in 2022 and considered an historic achievement, the directive on adequate minimum wages should improve the situation of European workers.
Spearheaded in particular by former Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius (S&D) and German EPP member Dennis Radtke, it introduces new procedures for setting and updating the adequacy of statutory minimum wages or promoting collective bargaining to set wages.
It does not set a minimum level for the minimum wage, nor does it oblige Member States that do not have such arrangements to adopt them.
In the EU, one worker in twelve is currently at risk of poverty, and in 19 Member States the threshold of 80% coverage of workers by collective bargaining has not been reached, the Commissioner pointed out.
In the majority of Member States, he also said, statutory minimum wages fail to reach at least 60% of the median wage, which is already considered the minimum.
Pointing to the “enormous differences” between Member States when it comes to minimum wages and wages in general, including between men and women, the outgoing Commissioner stressed that this situation did not correspond “to the promise of Europe”.
He also stressed that the EU would “not grow better” with a low-wage policy. “Wages are central to the proper functioning” of the economy and a prerequisite for greater productivity.
The event highlighted examples from Bulgaria, Latvia and the Netherlands, one of only two countries in the EU to have an age-based minimum wage for young people, which trade unions consider discriminatory. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)