Overview

• SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch and CDU leader Friedrich Merz both expect the Minimum Wage Commission to recommend raising the minimum wage to €15 next year.
• The SPD has signaled it may bypass the independent commission and legislate the increase directly if the commission does not meet their expectations.
• The coalition agreement mandates the commission's independence, basing recommendations on tariff trends and a 60% median-wage benchmark, with an exception for economic crises.
• Economic challenges in Germany have raised questions about whether the commission will invoke the exception clause to delay the increase.
• The SPD cited the 2022 unscheduled hike to €12 as precedent for overriding standard procedures to implement wage increases.