Minimum Wage Fixing Mechanisms in the EU Member States: A Comparative Overview in the Light of the Draft Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages

Abstract

This paper focuses on a comparative legal overview of the minimum wage in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. The author uses this context to discuss the significance of constitutions, statutes and collective bargaining agreements. Attention is drawn to the amount of detail in relevant constitutional provisions, the reasons for the discrepancies, as well as to the correlation between the way in which the minimum wage is regulated in the constitution and the way it is regulated by way of statute or collective bargaining agreement. The influence of international and European legal acts on the norms adopted in particular states is also assessed. Next, the structure of various national minimum wage fixing mechanisms is analysed in an attempt to indicate regularities in their formation. The paper refers to the draft Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union and provides an assessment of its potential impact on domestic legal systems. Further, the article evaluates national minimum wage fixing mechanisms from the perspective of their compatibility with the requirements introduced by the draft Directive.