The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes that the EU Minimum Wage Directive has been put beyond all doubt by today’s ruling of the Court of Justice. The Court confirmed the validity of the Directive and its core provisions, ensuring that the fight for fair wages in Europe continues on firm legal ground.
The Court has confirmed all measures related to the promotion of collective bargaining including the requirement for member states to put forward action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage.
While the Court annulled Article 5(2) – which contained the detailed criteria for assessing the adequacy of statutory minimum wages – it confirmed the other provisions of the Directive, including Article 5(1) which links minimum wages with adequacy, with the aim of achieving a decent standard of living, and 5(4), which includes the “threshold of decency” based on 50% of the average wage and 60% of the median wage as key reference points to assess adequacy. These benchmarks remain binding tools for guiding fair statutory minimum wage setting and ensuring that minimum wages protect workers from in-work poverty.
Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, said, “this judgment confirms that the Minimum Wage Directive stands firm – the EU can and must act for fair wages. The Directive’s core is intact, including the 50% and 60% thresholds of decency. But by striking out the article that explained how to measure adequacy, the Court has made it even clearer that we need stronger, enforceable rules to make fair pay a reality.”
The ETUC calls on Member States to stop the ‘wait and see’ approach and to get on with implementing the Directive in full, including raising wage floors to meet the adequacy benchmarks and adopting national action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage to 80%. Governments now have full legal certainty – the Directive is solid and must be delivered.
Importantly, most EU Member States with statutory minimum wages remain bound by ILO Convention No. 131, which sets out the very same criteria that were annulled by the Court – including cost of living, productivity levels, and economic factors relevant to decent wages. These international obligations remain in force and must guide national implementation.
The ETUC calls on the Commission to put forward immediately a Recommendation to support the implementation of the Directive by providing additional guidance criteria and coordination tools to deliver adequate statutory minimum wages that ensure a decent standard of living and to ensure upward wage convergence in Europe.
“The Directive is solid, but it needs solid implementation. Workers need real pay rises and real bargaining power, not legal loopholes. Europe must make sure every worker earns a wage that meets the threshold of decency, and promote effectively collective bargaining and increase collective bargaining coverage,” added Lynch.
The ETUC also recalls that all EU countries are bound by the European Social Charter, which requires effective mechanisms to ensure fair and adequate wages and to promote collective bargaining.
The ETUC is very concerned about the removal of the prevision that prevented automatic indexation being used as a reason to reduce statutory minimum wages but we remind Member States that Article 16 prevents them from lowering or abolishing minimum wages.
ENDS
The ETUC will assess the full judgement and is holding a press conference today at 14:00 CET. It will be live streamed here. Journalists that would like to register can do so via this form.
