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Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin met with German Minister of Labour and Social Policy Hubertus Heil

18.02.2021

Polish-German economic cooperation, the issue of minimum wages in the EU countries and the situation on the labour market in the era of the coronavrius pandemic – these are the main topics of the meeting of Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology Iwona Michałek, with German Minister of Labour and Social Policy Hubertus Heil.

Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology Iwona Michałek at the meeting

The representatives of Poland and Germany discussed the proposal presented by the European Commission at the end of October 2020 for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union.

Poland’s actions to date on the issue of minimum wages are in line with the general direction of improving working conditions, as requested by the European Commission. The amount of the minimum salary in Poland is increasing faster than the average salary in the national economy

- emphasised Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Development, Labour and Technology, Jarosław Gowin.

In 2020, the projected minimum wage/average wage ratio in the national economy was 51.1% and in 2021, it was already 53.2%. This means that from the initiation of the statutory minimum wage, i.e. from 2003, up to 2021, it has increased by 250%.
The second major concern raised by both sides was the impact of the pandemic on the labour market and the solutions that could keep citizens in both countries professionally active.

Pandemic affected the shape and situation of the Polish labour market as much as the entire European labour market. Thanks to different support tools that our entrepreneurs and their employees could use within the subsequent ‘shields’, we managed to save 6.8 million jobs. According to Eurostat data from the end of 2020, we are also the second country, just after the Czech Republic, with the lowest unemployment rate in the EU

- emphasised deputy head of the ministry, Iwona Michałek.

Polish-German bilateral cooperation

Today’s discussion between Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Deputy Minister Iwona Michałek with Minister Hubertus Heil, is another of a series of meetings in the EU or bilateral forum, which is aimed at improving and strengthening cooperation between Poland and Germany. Less than a month ago, at the end of January this year, Deputy Prime Minister Gowin met in Berlin with chairman of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Peter Altmaier, as well as the representatives of German industry. Poland and Germany, together with France, are also important partners within the Weimar Triangle.

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