The European Parliament has appointed Dutch Member of the European Parliament Agnes Jongerius (PvdA) as rapporteur and co-negotiator for a European minimum wage.
In the coming months, she will conduct negotiations with the European Commission and the 27 Social Affairs ministers on a European directive for minimum wages. “We can make a real difference for higher wages in the Netherlands and across the rest of Europe with this European directive,” Jongerius said in response to the acceptance of her proposal.
“Shelf stockers, maternity care workers, forklift operators: these are all people working for minimum wage. During the corona crisis, they proved once again to be indispensable. It is high time they earn a fair wage for this. Working hard yet living in poverty is unacceptable in the Netherlands and throughout Europe,” Jongerius stated.
Promotion
She wants to set a floor that in the Netherlands would amount to 14 euros per hour. More people should also fall under a collective labor agreement, and she wants to counter deductions and exceptions to the minimum wage.
The new directive must ensure that the statutory minimum wage is always above the poverty line, she emphasizes. “The EU is one of the richest regions in the world. However, 95 million Europeans are at risk of poverty. We must not allow economic interests to prevail over social protection,” said the German co-rapporteur Özlem Demirel.
According to Eurostat's definition, people are at risk of poverty if their disposable income is below 60% of the national average income for longer than six months. Eurostat figures show that in 2018, 9.4% of European employees were at risk of poverty.
Low wages in many EU countries have not risen at the same pace as other wages, resulting in growing income disparities.