(23 September 2016) – Germany’s adoption of a minimum wage in 2015 and the EU’s repeated talks over posted workers have paved the way for the adoption of a European minimum wage. But political resistance in some quarters is still strong.
The European Parliament’s rapporteur on social dumping, French Socialist Guillaume Balas (S&D), recommended the progressive enforcement of a European minimum wage. This, Balas said, should be fixed at 60% of each country’s median national wage.
Adopted by a large majority, many MEPs hope the proposal will eventually find its way into the revised Posting of Workers Directive. But the Commission’s original draft, presented in March this year, contained no reference to a minimum wage.
The idea of advancing the question of fair pay was also recently supported by the President of the European Commission. “Workers should get the same pay for the same work in the same place. It is a question of social justice,” Jean-Claude Juncker said in his State of the Union Speech. (EurActiv)