On Wednesday, 2 April, the MEP Jana Toom addressed the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the need to protect the Minimum Wage Directive. Denmark has applied to the European Court of Justice to annul the directive because it allegedly interferes with the sovereign right of EU countries to regulate minimum wages. The court will issue a ruling on 6 May.
Jana Toom: "The way forward to making life affordable, protecting jobs and wages and ensuring healthy work environments is by increasing collective bargaining, trade union coverage and strengthening social partners dialogue, which can all be achieved by the minimum wage directive.
That is why I am waiting with anxiety to hear the ruling of the Court about the challenge to the Directive. We have to be ready for this decision, whichever way it goes. If the Directive falls, we want to be ready as soon as possible with another legislative proposal to achieve the same objectives. If the Directive stands, we want the Commission to immediately kick into high gear and follow-up with the Member States on their obligations to promote collective bargaining if their national rates are low.
There is so much work that needs to be done by most Member States, including the Member State I know best. And I am appalled to see that my government is doing way less than the bare minimum but just enough to make it look like they are trying. We have to point out all of the governments that are not living up to the Directive and we need the Commission to be extremely strict about implementation. Only this way can we hope to talk one day about one Social Europe."