Oliver Röpke is the president of the Workers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
The proposal for a minimum wage directive currently under discussion is of key political importance. It is the Commission’s social policy flagship initiative, announced by President von der Leyen at the beginning of her term of office. The proposal is not free from controversy, as expected in such an important measure.
At its recent plenary session, the EESC backed with a broad majority a favourable opinion supporting it, but was nonetheless also witness to diverging views. However, with earlier doubts on the legal grounds for action cleared by the Council’s legal service, solutions can be found to avoid any negative interference with national collective bargaining systems.