Richard Sulík: We need to take further action on the controversial German law on minimum wage

Slovak ECR Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Richard Sulík, prepared two letters regarding the controversial law on minimum wage in Germany (MiLoG).

Slovak ECR Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Richard Sulík, prepared two letters regarding the controversial law on minimum wage in Germany (MiLoG). Both letters have been so far signed by up to forty MEPs. The first one, prepared together with Sulik’s fraction Latvian colleague, Robert Zile, asks Violeta Bulc, the Commissioner for Transport, to advance related infringement procedure to the next phase. The second one, addressed to the German financial courts is asking to send MiLoG related judicial cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), informs Richard Sulík.

This German law has been effective since January 2015 and it virtually bullies foreign hauliers. The opponents of MiLoG disagree with the unnecessary and inadequate administrative burdens for the employers of professional drivers from other EU member states, which create the obstacles for the free movement of goods, considered as one of the biggest achievements of the EU. Sulík adds, ‘In relation to MiLoG, the European Commission has already started the infringement procedure, as the law also applies to the transport employees from other EU member states who are just passing through Germany.’

He also says that, for more than a year now, the European Commission has been dealing with this case only by conducting a mutual dialogue with Germany, and so far has not taken any further action that would lead to the judicial procedure. ‘Even the German financial courts competent over so far few dozen MiLoG based cases have not taken the opportunity to ask the CJEU for preliminary rulings’, adds Sulík.

The perception of time for the settlement of this issue through diplomatic channels differs from the time perceived by the concerned haulers. It must be clear, however, that the MEPs accept the right of any EU member state to adopt a law on minimum wage, and do not suggest to the Commission or to the German financial courts any particular result. They just want this issue to be dealt by the CJEU. Sulík continues, ‘It is the only institution that is able to provide a final binding interpretation of acquis communautaire’.

Read the letter to Commissioner Bulc here