In a lawsuit supported by Sweden, Denmark claims that the entire directive violates the EU Charter and the prohibition for the EU to interfere in the wage conditions and the right to organize in member countries. But now it seems that the directive is considered to be correct and can go through.

According to the EU Court, the directive on minimum wages is almost entirely valid, and it only raises concerns about a few parts concerning statutory minimum wages. The prohibition on interfering in the wage conditions of member countries is not as straightforward, the court argues, referring to the fact that the EU treaty does not prevent EU from intervening in all matters related to wage conditions and the right to organize in member countries.

The rules are also said not to prevent measures aimed at influencing living and working conditions that practically affect wage levels. The court also argues that not having this approach to the treaty undermines the EU’s ability to support and complement member states in the relevant areas.

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According to Arbetsvärlden, it is also noted that the EU has gone too far in its directive and intervened directly in wage conditions in two areas. However, none of these concerns Sweden and Denmark, but only countries with statutory minimum wages. The court invalidates parts of Article 5 of the minimum wage directive, including the section stipulating that indexing of minimum wages must not lead to reduced wages.

Swedish and Danish resistance

Ever since the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed the directive five years ago, Sweden and Denmark have been against it. Three years ago, Denmark filed a lawsuit with the EU Court seeking to invalidate the entire directive.

According to PTK, LO, and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, they would defend the Swedish model with all available political and legal means, but despite the strong resistance to stop the directive, they have not succeeded.

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The directive on minimum wages was adopted in October 2022. For countries with statutory minimum wages, these should be linked to a decent standard of living, and guiding reference values such as 50 percent of the average wage or 60 percent of the median wage should be used.

The labor market parties should be involved in setting statutory minimum wages, and member countries should have deterrent sanctions against employers who violate minimum wage rules.

Strong support

In the Council of Ministers, only Sweden and Denmark voted against, while the other 25 member countries approved the directive. In the European Parliament, it was adopted by the members with over 500 yes votes against 90 no votes.

Although the directive was intended to be implemented in the national legislation of member countries last year, some countries have not completed the process. Sweden has announced that the directive has been implemented and that no changes or additions were needed here.

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