Adequate Minimum Wages Directive: transposition deadline, partially annulled by the CJEU
Date note: Directive (EU) 2022/2041, Art. 17(1) transposition deadline. On 2025-11-11 the Court of Justice (Case C-19/23, Denmark v Parliament and Council) annulled Art. 5(2) and part of Art. 5(3) — the mandatory adequacy-reference criteria and the no-decrease rule for automatic indexation — as exceeding EU competence over pay under Art. 153(5) TFEU. Arts. 4, 5(1), 5(4)-(6) and 6 remain valid.
What changes
Directive (EU) 2022/2041 required Member States with a statutory minimum wage to set and update it through a transparent procedure, and to promote collective bargaining wherever its coverage is below 80% (with a national action plan). It mainly creates Member State-level framework duties rather than direct obligations on individual employers. The CJEU's November 2025 judgment struck out the specific adequacy-reference criteria and part of the indexation rule as EU overreach into pay-setting, while leaving the rest of the Directive — including the 80% collective-bargaining action-plan duty — valid.
Who is affected
Not a direct compliance duty for individual companies; relevant background for any business affected by a national statutory minimum wage or by collective-bargaining coverage rules, and for anyone relying on the Directive's adequacy criteria as settled law after the partial annulment.
Sizes: micro, small, medium, large · Sectors: All sectors · Applies if: We employ staff
What to do
No direct company action required. If your country updates its statutory minimum-wage-setting procedure or collective-bargaining framework following the transposition or the CJEU judgment, check the national implementing law for any effect on wage floors or sector agreements you rely on.
Sources
- EUR-Lex – Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages (eur-lex.europa.eu)
- EUR-Lex – Judgment in Case C-19/23, Denmark v Parliament and Council (eur-lex.europa.eu)
Last verified 8 September 2026. Informational only, not legal advice.