Minimum wages need major boost

As the debate continues during the first phase consultation over the European Commission's proposals on fair minimum wages, the ETUC is highlighting the need for a major boost to legal minimum wages across Europe. It argues that in most of the 22 EU member states with a statutory national minimum wage it fails to meet even the minimal at risk-of-poverty wage threshold of 60% of the median wage. In 10 member states, the statutory minimum is 50% or less of the national median wage.

The monthly and hourly minimum wage rates are set to rise by just over 9%, taking the monthly amount to EUR 607 and the hourly rate to EUR 3.72. The minimum wage is discussed in a tripartite council which takes into account a number of factors but the increases are also linked to specific targets - since 2017 it was stipulated that the ratio of the minimum wage to the average wage should be kept between 45% and 50%. It is also linked to trends in minimum and average wages across the European Union.

(February 2017) The Eurofound research agency has published a new analysis of minimum wage rates across the EU noting the increase in rates, particularly across Eastern Europe. The article confirms, however, that there is still a wide range of rates across the continent, ranging from EUR 1999 in Luxembourg to EUR 238 in Bulgaria. Of the 22 EU countries with statutory minimum wages all have seen an increase in real terms since 2010 with the exception of Greece where the Troika pressured a previous government to cut the rate substantially.