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AUTHOR PROFILE

Thorsten Schulten

Thorsten Schulten

Thorsten Schulten is Head of the collective agreements archive of the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) at the Hans Böckler Stiftung. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.

Gavel — symbol of justice, Social Europe.

After Landmark EU Court Judgement: The EU Minimum Wages Directive Is Alive and Kicking

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The landmark ruling validates the directive's approach to adequate wages and collective bargaining, dealing only minor setbacks to its implementation across Europe.

Illustration of a bakery with financial symbols and coins.

Germany’s Minimum Wage Hike In Accordance With The European Minimum Wage Directive

Thorsten Schulten and Malte Lübker

Germany’s wage commission sets a new course, linking pay floor to EU benchmark after years of modest rises.

Meat industry worker in a modern setting, Social Europe.

Germany’s Subcontracting Ban in the Meat Industry

Şerife Erol, Anneliese Kärcher, Thorsten Schulten and Manfred Walser

A landmark German law has drastically improved working conditions in the meat industry.

Lady Justice with scales and gavel, European Union flags in background.

EU Minimum Wage Directive Before the European Court of Justice: It’s Not All Over Now…

Thorsten Schulten and Torsten Müller

EU’s minimum wage directive is under threat.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Germany’s Minimum Wage Controversy: Will the EU Directive Be Enforced?

Thorsten Schulten

The EU pushes for a 60 per cent median wage standard—yet Germany resists. What’s at stake for fair wages?

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Not done yet—applying the minimum-wages directive

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The directive has already changed the landscape on setting minimum wages and extending collective bargaining.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Minimum-wages directive—history in the making

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The directive fundamentally strengthens collective bargaining and trade union power.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Germany on the way to adequate minimum wages

Thorsten Schulten

The hike to €12 is also a strong signal on the planned European minimum-wages directive.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

More ambitious European minimum-wages directive demanded

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The European Parliament has upped the ante, beyond a European Commission proposal, on a minimum-wages directive.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

An end to wage-dumping in the German meat industry?

Şerife Erol and Thorsten Schulten

The German meat industry is being pushed off its low road of migrant-labour exploitation towards regulation and potential collective agreement.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Minimum-wage directive: yes, but …

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The draft minimum-wage directive is a crucial first step but more needs to follow on the way to a social Europe.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

The European minimum wage will come—but how?

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

The principle of a European minimum wage is established. How it should be set is not.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Why Won’t Wages In Europe Rise As They Should?

Thorsten Schulten and Malte Lübker

The economic mainstream is perplexed: growth is finally taking hold across Europe, economic forecasts have been revised upwards, and employment is expanding. The only indicator

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

The European Social Pillar – Towards An EU Minimum Wage Policy?

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten

On 26 April, the European Commission launched its proposal for a European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) as a flagship initiative to strengthen the EU’s

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Greek Collective Bargaining After The Third Memorandum

Thorsten Schulten

The radical restructuring of Greek collective bargaining was right from the beginning one of the core demands of the Troika of the European Commission, the

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Preconditions For Successful Implementation Of The New Minimum Wage In Germany

Thorsten Schulten

It is just a few weeks since the minimum wage was introduced in Germany, but it is already becoming quite clear that its implementation in

S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D conference The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision, 9 September 2026, European Parliament, Brussels

S&D conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision”

In case you missed it, you can watch the replay of the S&D Group’s conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision” by clicking the button below, and read the press release and opinion piece.

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ETUI Advertisement

Cover of the ETUI report Climate change and workers’ health: protecting workers against heat and other climate-related hazards, by Marouane Laabbas-el-Guennouni and Andreas D. Flouris.

New Report - Climate change and workers’ health

After a summer marked by repeated heatwaves across Europe, this publication tackles an increasingly urgent issue: workplace heat exposure, now one of the leading climate-related threats to workers' health. The report identifies the sectors and workers most at risk, and calls for a dedicated EU directive to strengthen and harmonise their protection.

READ HERE

Eurofound Advertisement

EurofoundTalks podcast with Mary McCaughey and Eszter Sandor: Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, host Mary McCaughey and senior researcher Eszter Sandor unpack the results of the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey. While headline inflation has stabilised at 2.1%, the data reveals a continent gripped by chronic precariousness, with 57% of respondents now at risk of depression. Mary and Eszter explore how this economic insecurity is impacting institutional trust and democratic engagement.

LISTEN HERE

FEPS Advertisement

Cover of The Progressive Post issue 31, Summer 2026: The Mediterranean, a crowded sea.

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out! 

The EU is belatedly awakening to a changing Mediterranean sea, where more assertive regional powers are reclaiming a role.

The new issue of the magazine also reflects on how we struggle to keep pace with AI innovations, examines the uncertainties surrounding the execution of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the risk to human rights posed by the Return Regulation, and focuses on the EU Commission's newly proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI blog series “Climate Transition: Socially Just and Fair”: How the climate crisis and global migration are linked, by Neva Löw and Maximilian Pichl

How the climate crisis and global migration are linked

The climate crisis and global migration are closely linked. Emancipatory forces must demand and defend the right to be able to leave, but not to have to leave. This means defending and expanding asylum rights.

READ HERE

FES Advertisement

Cover of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung analysis The Capability State: A Progressive Vision for the 21st Century by Henning Meyer.

“What is the actual purpose of the state?” – this central question is the focus of the analysis. At a time when bureaucratic processes are making life difficult for citizens, the paper proposes a three-part model. It aims at a conception of the state as a platform that helps society build the capabilities it needs to address its problems effectively.

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