Countries with statutory minimum wages
both within and outside the EU
were compared in a recent Eurostat survey and huge variations found. In
terms of gross payments in euros, Bulgaria’s €92 per month is dwarfed
by the €1,570 in Luxembourg. When price differences are taken into
account using Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) the gap shrinks with
Luxembourg’s still top but only seven times greater than Romania’s in
last place. However Romania is trying to catch up having increased its
minimum wage by 10% annually. In all the countries except three the
monthly rate is less than half of average gross earnings. In most, less
than 10% of full-time employees are paid the minimum, the main
exceptions being Bulgaria and France, both above 15%. Apart from Malta
and Hungary all countries’ female workers were more likely to be on the
minimum wage.
The latest figures for industrial
production in the EU show a slight decrease from March to April but a
substantial rise compared to last year. Including Romania and Bulgaria,
who joined in January, there was a 3.2% increase over April 2006 and a
fall of 0.4% since March this year. Eastern countries led the way with
Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia and Bulgaria all recording around 10% more
output this year.
Taking a longer view this trend is confirmed (see map) as all the
biggest gainers since 2000 (except Ireland) are from the new Member
States in Eastern Europe.
