UPDATE: According to colleagues, EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki denied having made statements “about the EU Commission considering further lowering the minimum wage in Greece.” Speaking to NewsIt.gr Damanaki vehemently denied to “have made such statements at least during the last year.” Sources close to Damanaki, told the website they were surprised about who would circulate such statements and thus so close before the elections.
Damanaki’s alleged statements were posted on online edition of Ta Nea daily Tuesday noon. Ta Nea was writing that Damanaki had given an interview to to Vima FM, a radio station belonging to the same media group. The news was later removed. Ta Nea said in its Twitter account “it was an old interview accidentally re-aired.”
Earlier KTG reported:
Just a few days before the crucial for the Greek government EU elections, EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki said that the EU Commission does not exclude a further reduction of the minimum wage in Greece. If I understood Damanaki right, lowering the minimum wage is a measure aimed to apply in all European countries.
Damanaki’s bomb: EU commission considers further reduction of minimum wage in Greece
Speaking to Vima FM, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs & Fisheries, Damanaki said that “this was nothing new”.
I said nothing absurd or anything original or something new. This is the steady line within the European Commission in the last one and a half, two years,” Damanaki said.
According to Damanaki, the issue of reducing the minimum wage in European countries has been on the EU Commission debate as a measure to improve the competitiveness of European enterprises.
Similar statements have been made by other members of the Commission but also by the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn.
Maria Damanaki claimed that she and other commissioners have offered to put off the debate the minimum wage in order to avoid social upheaval, but ” unfortunately our proposal has not been accepted.” (via Star.gr)
Minimum wage in Greece was €870 gross until February 2012, when the second Loan Agreement reduced it to €570 gr0ss and €520 gross for those below 25 years old. A further reduction would press minimum wage at a further 100-euro banknote, I would suppose.
Minimum wage does not apply only to new starters in professional life but also to anyone who gets a job in a new profession – independently from age and years of working experience.
Come on, EU Commission, don’t be shy! Replace minimum wage with pocket money for transportation monthly card, a sandwich and a coffee (roughly €120 per month) and provide workers with “social homes” where they will live without paying electricity & other maintenance costs.
It’s first time I see a neo-liberal institution like the EU to have to face challenges and have to consider solutions copy-paste from the times of “real-socialism”. Otherwise the colonies of workers will die out and will not multiply.
Can you imagine, there are job opening and nobody applies due to the over-taxation of salaries and wages?
As to why ex-member of Communist KKE, ex-member of Euro-communist Synaspismos and still-member of PASOK Maria Damanaki said this now… well… that’s a chapter from another story that I don’t feel like writing much about.
Nevertheless, Maria Damanaki is known for dropping political and economical bombshells in crucial for the country times. She certainly knows better her own motive.
However in short: Maria Damanaki joined PASOK in 2003 when George Papandreou took over the party leadership. Should PASOK’s EU elections list ELIA suffer a defeat, leader Venizelos will most possibly have to resign. The position will be open for new and old party leader…
BTW: I thought, IMF’s Christine Lagarde was the fierce supporter of as minimum as possible minimum wage. She maybe have injected the same tax-free drug to her EU colleagues.
PS No wonder the Swiss rejected the minimum wage of €3,250 gross….
