The European Union agrees on a common position on the directive for living minimum wages

The countries of the European Union have agreed this Monday a common position for a directive that promotes living minimum wages in the Union, establishing a common European framework that improves prosperity and social cohesion in the block.

After studying the initiative presented by the European Commission a year ago, the Twenty-seven have agreed on a basis to promote adequate minimum wages, promote collective bargaining and improve the protection of workers.

This is the first step in passing a directive on minimum wages. This is a measure that will now be negotiated with the European Parliament, and that seeks to advance the social pillar of the EU and guarantee greater prosperity throughout the Union.

“It is an important step, with which we commit ourselves so that, in Europe, people can make a living from their work. We must have fair wages, and we cannot base our economic competence on low wages”, said the Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit.

Schmit has been optimistic regarding the negotiations with the European Parliament, and hopes to have the directive in the near future, despite the discrepancies of some EU countries; in fact, the common position has gone ahead without the support of Hungary and Denmark, who defend their own systems, while Germany and Austria have abstained.

Paradigm shift

Despite the fact that the regulations will not force the setting of a minimum wage at the EU level and is limited to establishing mechanisms and tools to revise wages upwards, Schmit has celebrated that it supposes a paradigm shift for Brussels, given that “no one would have expected this a few years ago“.

“Wages have been under pressure in some EU countries to go down, and now, we send a strong message, to have instruments that move towards greater upward convergence,” he insisted.

The Spanish State is among the countries of the Union that promote this European directive, understanding that the measure means advancing in a more social Europe. The Vice President of the Government of Spain and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has celebrated that, with the proposal, the bloc assumes, “in the end, that a Europe of the future is incompatible with low wages and precarious living conditions.”