For employees in Germany, the minimum wage should increase to 15 euros per hour in the next two years, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil expects. He explained that this necessarily follows from the new law of the European Union. By the way, six million people will benefit from this," Hale told ARD public television, DPA reported.

Currently, the legal minimum hourly rate is 12,41 euros gross. From January 1, 2025, the minimum wage will rise to 12,82 euros per hour - in accordance with the decisions previously made by the Government. And then in 2026, the minimum daily wage will be between 14 and 15 euros," promised the minister. However, the latest inflation rate in Germany fell to 1,9 percent compared to the same month last year.

In a letter to the Minimum Wage Commission, accessed by DPA, Hale states that the new EU requirements will be met if the commission takes into account the provision that the minimum wage is 60 percent of the average wage. By November 15, he added, the EU directive must be translated into national legislation. In the commission, leading representatives of unions and employers are negotiating steps to increase the minimum wage.

"The last increase was too low." Everyone knows that. Now it is necessary to correct it," said Hale. There are 45 million employees in Germany, of which 35 million are covered by social security. The social democratic minister's promise was not without criticism from the business-friendly Liberals (FDP), the smallest party in the three-member government coalition, which includes the Greens. Heil should refrain "from obvious pre-election maneuvers that undermine the proven autonomy of collective bargaining and thereby undermine one of the foundations of the social market economy," said the deputy head of the FDP's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Lucas Keller.