11.11.2025
Reacting to today’s European Court of Justice ruling on the EU Minimum Wage Directive, BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said:
“EU policy makers need to refrain from overstepping European competences in EU legislation.
“The clarification provided by the ECJ in its ruling today as regards article 5 of the Minimum Wage Directive recognises that national competences have been overstepped. This partial annulment should lead to better consideration of the limits of the EU Treaty by EU policy makers in the future.”
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg declared two provisions in the EU Minimum Wage Directive null and void:
- 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.
