The EU approves the new common framework to ensure decent minimum wages

LUXEMBOURG, 4 Oct. (EUROPE PRESS) -

The Ministers of Economy and Finance (Ecofin) have given the green light this Tuesday to the rule to establish a common framework that ensures decent minimum wages, with the aim of improving prosperity and social cohesion in the bloc but, however, not involves setting a common minimum threshold for the Twenty-seven.

"Minimum wages and collective wage setting are powerful tools that can be used to ensure that all workers earn wages that allow them a decent standard of living," said Czech Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurecka, in a statement.

The Ministers of Economy and Finance have given their approval to this new regulation, with which it is the last step for its adoption at the community level, which establishes the procedures to establish the legal minimum wage in each Member State, promotes collective bargaining and improves the protection of workers in access to the minimum wage.

Based on this directive, the Member States must establish a procedure to establish and update the minimum wage with clear criteria, in such a way that these revisions are carried out at least once every two years, no later than four, however, it does not stipulate a specific minimum wage level to be met by all countries.

The rule, the result of the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council last June, also promotes collective bargaining to increase the number of workers covered by it. Thus, the countries must promote the capacity of the social partners and when the coverage rate of collective bargaining is, for example, below 80%, the countries must establish a plan to promote it.

In addition, the text establishes that the EU countries will take measures to improve workers' access to the legal minimum wage with measures such as labor inspections, easily accessible information on the protection of the minimum wage and increasing the capacity of the authorities in charge of making enforce the law against non-compliant employers.