The Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union: Much ado about nothing in Sweden?

Abstract

The EU Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages has been welcomed by many stakeholders, but Sweden (together with Denmark), with its historically good track record regarding labour rights, is opposing it on both political and legal grounds. The Directive, the Swedish Government argues, will not fulfil its goals, and concerns, in any instance, matters that are excluded from the competence of the EU. This article describes and analyses the implementation measures in a system whose wage-setting mechanism – at least according to its own opinion – needs no support, and in which legal and political objections have been raised against the Directive.