The proposal for a directive on the minimum wage does not oblige the member countries to introduce minimum wages and does not specify what kind of wages should be paid in the member countries.
According to the preliminary agreement, the directive provides for a European minimum wage in those countries where minimum wages are determined on the basis of legislation.
In Finland, wages are agreed upon in labor market negotiations.
The proposal for a directive on the minimum wage therefore does not mean that a statutory minimum wage would be introduced in Finland.
The goal is a minimum wage sufficient for everyone
The aim of the directive is to improve compliance with the statutory minimum wage or wages according to collective agreements throughout the EU.
The directive therefore wants to create a procedure that aims to tackle the problem that the salary received from work is almost always not enough to live on.
In practice, the wage earner must receive the minimum wage either as a result of labor market negotiations or through the statutory minimum wage system.
Finnish legislation already largely meets the level required by the directive.
For example, according to the Commission’s view, salary dumping is practiced in the Union area, because there are large differences in minimum wages between member countries. This in turn distorts competition in the market.
– The aim of the directive is to combat working poverty, equalize income differences and support collective bargaining in all member states, commented the Minister of Labor Tuula Haatainen.
The directive also aims to expand the scope of collective bargaining so that employees can benefit from sufficient minimum wages.
The Commission is aiming for the collective bargaining model to become more common in various fields, also outside the Nordic countries, in the longer term.
In the background, the corona pandemic and the platform economy
Even before the pandemic, the EU Commission launched several laws related to equal pay and minimum earnings.
The marks left by the corona pandemic on the labor market and the strong growth of the platform economy have accelerated the debate on the European minimum wage.
The Commission is expected to present a proposal to improve the status of workers in the platform economy later this year.