Directive (EU) 2022/2041 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19th October 2022 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union – an attempt at a critical analysis

DOI: 10.31971/2299-2332.2022.16.4

Abstract

The European  Union has no competencies in the field of directly setting wages, but it can propose common criteria to be taken into consideration when wages are set on a Member State level. The European Commission has therefore proposed a directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, subsequently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. Its twin objectives were to establish a framework at Union level to ensure fair minimum wages, their adequacy and an increase in their accessibility by workers, and to strengthen collective bargaining in Europe, as high collective bargaining coverage tends to lead to lower share of low-wage workers. The minimum wage will not be uniform across the EU, nor there are any plans to harmonise the systems of setting it. In addition, any ill not be uniform across the EU, nor there are any plans to harmonise the systems of setting it. In addition, any possible measures will be applied  in a differentiated manner, depending on the systems applicable in particular Member States as well as traditions followed therein, in full respect of the competencies of the Member States, in order to achieve minimum standards through gradual implementation. Nevertheless, the directive has faced consistent criticism of certain Member States for intrusion into their competencies, and in consequence it remains an open question whether its objectives would only  be fulfilled due to their ultimately limited nature.