The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to deliver a landmark ruling on Tuesday that could determine the future of the EU’s Minimum Wage Directive – and, with it, define the limits of the bloc’s authority over national social policies.
Denmark – backed by Sweden – has taken the Commission to the EU’s top court, arguing that the directive breaches EU treaties by legislating directly on pay, an area beyond the EU’s legal remit.
Adopted in 2022, the Minimum Wage Directive aims to ensure “adequate minimum wages” and stronger collective bargaining – negotiations between workers and employers over pay and conditions – across the EU.
While countries don’t have to introduce a mandatory minimum wage, the rules require those with less than 80% collective-bargaining coverage to come up with a plan to strengthen wage-setting systems.
Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, and Luxembourg all sided with the European Commission wanting to keep the law in place.
“This a real clash here between the Nordic model – collective bargaining – and the EU’s tradition of individual rights,” said Laust Høgedahl, associate professor of employment relations at Aalborg University in Denmark.
In January, the court’s advocate general – an independent expert helping judges decide in complex cases – recommended that judges rule in favour of Denmark in a non-binding opinion.
An ‘earthquake’ under EU’s social pillar
If the court follows the advocate general’s reasoning, it would be “a political earthquake” for the EU’s social policy, said Christina Hiessl, who is a professor of labour law at Belgium’s KU Leuven.
“Up to now, the Court has always sided with the Commission,” Hiessl said.
“The EU also wants to build social rights alongside the single market,” Høgedahl said. “Those social rights will become much harder to advance if this directive falls.”
Hiessl believes Danish fears are exaggerated. “It’s a common misconception that the directive imposes statutory minimum wages,” she said. “It very clearly does not.”
Current figures put Denmark’s collective bargaining rate at 82%, slightly above the 80% threshold – the level of worker coverage below which EU countries are expected to take steps to promote collective bargaining.
According to Høgedahl, Danish resistance is a principled stance rather than one of substance.
“Wage is sacred in Denmark,” he says. “It belongs to the social partners, not to politicians – not in Copenhagen, and certainly not in Brussels.”
Source: EU’s minimum wage faces judgment day | Euractiv
Of course, the Danish, who also want to implement Chat Control (blanket espionage of all EU citizens through their smartphones) would hate to see fair wages for EU citizens as well.
Robin Edgar
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