The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has welcomed a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union that confirms the EU Minimum Wage Directive is legally sound and remains fully in force. The Court’s decision provides legal certainty for member states as they move to implement the law, which aims to ensure fair and adequate pay across Europe.
The decision follows a legal challenge from Denmark, supported by Sweden. They had argued that setting wages is a national matter, not something the EU should regulate. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) disagreed.
Key parts confirmed
The Court upheld key parts of the Directive, including Article 5(1), which links minimum wages to the goal of providing a so-called decent standard of living, and Article 5(4), which sets reference points — 50 per cent of the median wage and 60 per cent of the average wage — to guide how countries assess wage adequacy. In simple terms, this means that national minimum wages should be high enough to protect workers from in-work poverty.
However, the Court annulled Article 5(2), which had listed detailed criteria (such as cost of living and productivity) for judging whether minimum wages are adequate. Those details are no longer part of EU law, but the ETUC noted that they still apply under international standards like ILO Convention No. 131, which many EU countries have ratified.
Stronger rules still needed
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said the judgment confirms that “the Directive stands firm” but shows why stronger, enforceable rules are needed to make fair pay a reality. The organisation called on governments to stop delaying and implement the Directive in full — including raising wage floors to meet the adequacy benchmarks and adopting national action plans to expand collective bargaining coverage to at least 80 per cent.
The ETUC also urged the European Commission to issue a Recommendation to help coordinate implementation and support upward wage convergence across the EU. The organisation stressed that European and international labour standards continue to require effective systems for fair, adequate wages and for promoting collective bargaining.
