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The idea behind the EU Commission’s proposal is not to introduce a standardised minimum wage in all EU countries. The proposal does not contain any proposed wage levels at all, in fact. It only talks about an “adequate” minimum wage. Still, in such circumstances, it is still common to point to a level that is 60% of the median wage in respective countries, or 50% of the average wage. 

Using that definition, the minimum wage would go up in 17 out of the 21 member states that already have a statutory minimum wage. In total, 25 million workers would get a pay rise. The highest increase would come in Spain, the Czech Republic and Estonia. The four countries with a statutory minimum wage above this template level are Bulgaria, France, Portugal and Slovenia. The six member states achieving an “adequate” minimum wage through the collective agreement model would, according to the Commission, not be asked to implement the directive.