Belgium protests over German low pay in EU complaint

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A German left-wing MEP, Thomas Haendel of the Linke party, said that only Germany and Malta had no statutory minimum wage in the 27-nation EU.

Speaking to BBC News, he said the Belgian complaint "is entirely justified - the Linke party has long been pointing out that Germany is practising wage dumping in Europe".

"It's very unfair because Germany now has very high productivity, but gains a competitive advantage through these 'mini-jobs'," Mr Haendel said.

EU criticism

In addition to Linke, the German Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens are also pushing for a statutory minimum wage in Germany, he said.

"About 30 per cent of workers in Germany get less than 8.5 euros per hour - that's below the OECD poverty level," he said, referring to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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At a glance here the mentions made by european and even world wide press:

Estonia - Delfi News: Belgia kaebas Euroopa Komisjonile Saksamaa madalate palkade peale

Portugal - Negocios online: Bélgica protesta junto da UE contra salários de três euros à hora na Alemanha

Slowenia - Planet Siol Net: Belgija protestira zaradi nizkih plač v Nemčiji

Greece - Capital: Βέλγιο: Καταγγέλει τη Γερμανία για τους χαμηλούς μισθούς

China - Finance Sina CN: 比利时因德国工资过低向欧盟投诉

Hongkong - Finance Sina HK: 比利時因德國工資過低向歐盟投訴