Directive on Adequate Minimum Wage and the Limits of EU Competence in the Area of Social Policy

On January 14, 2025, in case C-19/23, Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou recommended that the Court of Justice of the EU annul Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in its entirety. According to the Advocate General, the Directive was adopted ultra vires. His argument, based on a broad interpretation of the Union's competence exclusion in relation to wages (Article 153(5) TFEU), diverges from the Court's established interpretation. The aim of this paper is to present the main points of the Opinion, which raises questions about the delicate balance, developed over the years, between the EU's competences and the sovereignty of Member States in the area of social policy.

Bibliografia/References

Brameshuber, E. (2025). EU Competence in the Field of Social Policy: why the AG's Opinion on the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive in C-19/23 (does not) matter(s), EULAWLIVE, nr 56, s. 5–7.

Council of the European Union: Opinion of the legal service on Commission proposal for a Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, Brussels, 9 March 2021, 6817/21.

Garben, S. (2024). Choosing a tightrope instead of a rope bridge – The choice of legal basis for the AMW Directive, [w:] The EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages – Context, Commentary and Trajectories, ed. L. Ratti, E. Brameshuber, V. Pietrogiovanni, Hart Publishing.

Kilpatrick C., Steiert M. (2025). A little learning is a dangerous thing: AG Emiliou on the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive (C-19/23, Opinion of 14 January 2025), EUI, LAW, Working Paper, 2.