A Paradigm Shift to Social Europe: The impact of the EU Minimum Wage directive on the strengthening of collective bargaining in Europe

The EU Minimum Wage Directive, adopted in 2022, marks a paradigm shift in EU labor policy. While the EU has long contributed to weakening trade unions and collective bargaining systems through its liberalization policy, the new directive now explicitly aims to strengthen labor market institutions. In order to promote adequate minimum wages, statutory minimum wages should be raised and collective bargaining systems strengthened all over Europe. The Directive obliges all EU member States with collective bargaining coverage of below 80% to establish national action plans to promote collective bargaining, with the aim of progressively increasing collective bargaining coverage.

The presentation will discuss the implementation of the directive in individual Member States to date and identify the most important instruments that can contribute to higher collective bargaining coverage.

Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schulten is head of the Collective Agreement Archive of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation which is closely related to the German trade unions. He is also teaching as an honorary professor at the University of Tübingen.

Further reading:

Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten, The road to 80% collective bargaining coverage. The need for ambitious national action plans under the Minimum Wage Directive, ETUI Policy Brief No. 1/2025, Brussels, https://www.etui.org/publications/road-80-collective-bargaining-coverage

Host
Institute for European Studies

Co-host
School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Undergraduates interested in spending a semester or year at Oxford or Cambridge must attend an information and group advising session before applying to the program. Learn more about eligibility criteria, the admissions process, and the student experience to determine whether this will be a good fit for you. REGISTER FOR THIS MANDATORY GROUP ADVISING EVENT

Global Research Fellows are a new interdisciplinary research and professional development community at the Einaudi Center for advanced graduate students, Cornell postdocs, and visiting and local scholars. You'll find a community of fellow researchers with regional and international interests and a desire to foster a more equitable world.

Eligible students:
• Have completed at least two years of graduate education
• Engaged in research on a topic of global or regional studies significance
• Hold a strong desire to impact global challenges and create real-world solutions
• Interested in engaging and collaborating with other researchers

Can’t attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu.

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.

View the art, media, and writing of Cornell students and staff who share the ways that migration shapes their lives in this Mann Library exhibit. The exhibit will showcase winning submissions from the Migrations Program's creative writing and art competition and an interactive digital space where you can share your own migration story.

At the exhibit's launch, keynote speaker Cathy Linh Che will read poetry and join us for a Q&A session, and Pedro Molina will present his work.

About the Speakers

Cathy Linh Che is a writer and multidisciplinary artist. She is the author of Becoming Ghost (Washington Square Press, 2025), Split (Alice James Books), and co-author, with Kyle Lucia Wu, of the children’s book An Asian American A to Z: a Children’s Guide to Our History (Haymarket Books). Her video installation Appocalips is an Open Call commission with The Shed NY, and her film We Were the Scenery won the Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction at the Sundance Film Festival. She teaches as Core Faculty in Poetry at the low residency MFA program in Creative Writing at Antioch University in Los Angeles and works as Executive Director at Kundiman. She lives in New York City.

Pedro X. Molina is an award-winning Nicaraguan political cartoonist known for his sharp critiques of authoritarianism and human rights abuses. Forced into exile in 2018 after government reprisals against independent media, he now lives and works in the United States, creating cartoons for outlets including Confidencial, Counterpoint, the Washington Post, and Politico. A 2021–22 Institute of International Education Artist Protection Fund fellow at Cornell University and current visiting critic with the Einaudi Center’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies program, Molina has also been a visiting scholar at Ithaca College and the Brunell Visiting Scholar at Cayuga Community College. His work has earned major international honors, including the 2021 Gabo Award for Excellence and the 2023 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.

Host and Sponsors

The Migrations Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, is hosting this event.

This event is supported by the Migrations Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative
Co-sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program provides fully funded immersive summer programs for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to learn languages of strategic importance to the United States’ national security, economic prosperity, and engagement with the world. Each summer, over 500 American students enrolled at colleges and universities across the United States spend approximately eight weeks studying one of a dozen languages either overseas or virtually. Participants gain the equivalent of one year of language study, as the CLS Program maximizes language and cultural instruction in an intensive environment.

Can't attend? Email programs@einaudi.cornell.edu for more information.

The Laidlaw Scholars Leadership and Research Program promotes ethical leadership and international research around the world—starting with the passionate leaders and learners found on campuses like Cornell. Open to first- and second-year students, the two-year Laidlaw program provides generous support to carry out internationally focused research, develop leadership skills, engage with community projects overseas, and become part of a global network of like-minded scholars from twenty universities worldwide.

At this session, we'll share more information about the program, including Cornell's cohort-based intercultural community-engaged learning summer experience in Ecuador, and tips for writing a successful application. Applications are due January 12, 2026.

Applicants are also strongly encouraged to attend a Q+A webinar about the summer experience in Ecuador. Q+A webinars are scheduled for November 5 and November 6.

Register here. Can’t attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu.

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.