The European Council stated that the law that will bring new rules to minimum wages has been accepted by the member states. Accordingly, determining the minimum wages will continue to be the jurisdiction of the member states.
Procedures will be established for the adequacy level of legal minimum wages.
Countries with minimum wages will need to set and update these wages according to clear criteria, and it will be ensured that the minimum wages applied are sufficient for workers to live in humane conditions.
The legal minimum wage will need to be updated at least every two years, while countries that implement an automatic indexing mechanism will make the updates no later than every 4 years.
Collective bargaining agreements on wage determination will be encouraged and expanded.
Action plans will be prepared to expand the application of collective bargaining in countries where the collective bargaining agreement determines the wages of less than 80 percent of the employees.
Action plans will include a clear timeline and specific measures to gradually increase collective bargaining coverage.
The new rules, which were previously approved by the European Parliament (EP), will enter into force after a 2-year transition period after their publication in the EU Official Journal.
21 of the 27 EU member states have minimum wages.
In Denmark, Italy, Greek Cypriot Administration, Austria, Finland and Sweden, wages are determined as a result of collective bargaining negotiations.
Minimum wage table – Yellow columns: July 2012 – Blue columns: July 2022
