Minimum wages ECJ overturns central EU minimum wage requirements
The EU has overstepped its authority in setting uniform standards for minimum wages. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg declared two provisions in the EU Minimum Wage Directive null and void.
11.11.2025, 10:03
11.11.2025, 10:36
SDA
Firstly, this concerns the criteria that EU countries with minimum wages had to take into account when setting and updating them - purchasing power, the general wage level, the wage growth rate and long-term national productivity trends. The ECJ deemed this to be a direct interference in the setting of wages and therefore inadmissible.
Secondly, the European judges overturned the ban on reducing the statutory minimum wage if there is an automatic adjustment mechanism.
Complaint from Denmark
Denmark had doubted that the European Union had jurisdiction. However, the ECJ has now only partially ruled in Denmark's favor. It stated that the exclusion of EU competence did not extend to all issues relating to pay.
The directive adopted in 2022 is intended to protect workers from poverty and promote adequate minimum wages and collective bargaining. It does not set minimum wages, but provides for reference values such as 60 percent of the median wage, which member states should use as a benchmark.
