At Sweden’s initiative, several EU Member States gathered to discuss the Minimum Wage Directive. The meeting resulted in several Member States joining together to send a letter to the EU Presidency. In the letter, the ministers object to the way the issue has been handled, and suggest that a legally binding directive is not the right approach.
The letter sends a clear message that negotiations on the issue should wait for the opinion now being prepared by the Council’s Legal Service on the proposed minimum wage’s compatibility with the legal basis.
– It is important to gather many Member States in order to influence the issue. From Sweden’s perspective, we are very concerned that the legislative proposal could have a negative effect on our wage formation model and consider that the EU should not interfere in determining which wages and conditions should apply in Member States. The Government will continue to take forceful action to ensure that the proposal from the European Commission does not jeopardise the Swedish collective agreement model and the social partners’ responsibilities for wage formation, says Minister for Employment Eva Nordmark.
The letter was signed by ministers from Austria, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Sweden.