Sweden supports the EU’s minimum wage after long-term opposition – POLITICO
STOCKHOLM – The Swedish government on Friday dropped its opposition to a proposal for an EU directive to strengthen wage protection in the member states after assessing that the new rules would not threaten the collective bargaining model that is widely used in Sweden’s labor market.
This was a significant development as Sweden, together with Denmark, has been one of the loudest opponents of the proposed directive, which aims, among other things, to prescribe a broader use of minimum wages throughout the EU.
The latest draft of the directive seems to free countries such as Sweden and Denmark – where wages are largely determined through negotiations between unions and employers – from the requirement to introduce a minimum wage.
But unions and employers – as well as some legislators – in both countries have said they fear the new directive may be extended beyond its current scope at some point in the future and undermine Nordic wage setting models.
If a Swedish or Danish employee, for example, were to demand a minimum wage from the European Court of Justice, it is unclear what consequences this could have.
The Danish government continues to oppose the proposal for a directive, but on Friday Sweden’s EU committee voted to support the Swedish government’s position to support it.
“I am very pleased that there is broad support and a majority for us to continue to negotiate … to do everything we can to protect the Swedish wage setting model,” the Swedish Minister of Labor Eva Nordmark, Social Democrat, told reporters after the meeting. .
However, three opposition parties rejected the government’s position, arguing that the EU’s role is not to dictate how wages are set within countries.
– It is important that Sweden should be able to decide over the Swedish labor market itself, says Tobias Billström, team leader for the center party Moderaterna.
If the EU employment ministers agree to support the directive at Monday’s meeting, it will then be discussed further in tripartite talks between the member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament during the first half of next year.
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