Case C-19/23: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 11 November 2025 – Kingdom of Denmark v European Parliament, Council of the European Union (Action for annulment – Directive (EU) 2022/2041 – Adequate minimum wages in the European Union – Article 153(1)(b) TFEU – Article 153(2)(b) TFEU – Respect for the competences conferred on the Union by the Treaties – Article 153(5) TFEU – Exclusions of competence – Pay and right of association – Direct interference by EU law in the determination of pay within the European Union and in the right of association – Partial annulment – Article 5(1), in part, (2) and (3) in fine)
Date: 2025-11-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU competence, directive (EU), freedom of association, minimum pay, pay, wage determination








C_202600132EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/132


12.1.2026






Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 11 November 2025 – Kingdom of Denmark v European Parliament, Council of the European Union


(Case C-19/23)
                (1)

(Action for annulment - Directive (EU) 2022/2041 - Adequate minimum wages in the European Union - Article 153(1)(b) TFEU - Article 153(2)(b) TFEU - Respect for the competences conferred on the Union by the Treaties - Article 153(5) TFEU - Exclusions of competence - ‘Pay’ and ‘right of association’ - Direct interference by EU law in the determination of pay within the European Union and in the right of association - Partial annulment - Article 5(1), in part, (2) and (3) 
in fine
)
(C/2026/132)
Language of the case: Danish

Parties


Applicant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented initially by M. Jespersen, J.F. Kronborg and C.A.-S. Maertens, and subsequently by M. Jespersen, C.A.-S. Maertens and A. Skovsø Clausen, acting as Agents)

Defendants: European Parliament (represented by W.D. Kuzmienko, L. Visaggio, A. Tamás and U. Spliid, acting as Agents), Council of the European Union (represented initially by A.F. Jensen, A. Norberg and S. Scarpa Ferraglio, and subsequently by A. Norberg and S. Scarpa Ferraglio, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the applicant: Kingdom of Sweden (represented initially by H. Eklinder, H. Shev and O. Simonsson, and subsequently by H. Eklinder and O. Simonsson, acting as Agents)

Interveners in support of the defendants: Federal Republic of Germany (represented initially by J. Möller and A. Hoesch, acting as Agents, and subsequently by J. Möller, acting as Agent), Hellenic Republic (represented by V. Baroutas and M. Tassopoulou, acting as Agents), Kingdom of Spain (represented by A. Gavela Llopis, acting as Agent), French Republic (represented initially by R. Bénard, J.-L. Carré, B. Fodda and T. Lechevallier, and subsequently by B. Fodda and T. Lechevallier, acting as Agents), Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (represented by A. Germeaux and T. Schell, acting as Agents, and by V. Verdanet, avocate), European Commission (represented initially by B.-R. Killmann and C. Vang, acting as Agents, and subsequently by B.-R. Killmann, acting as Agent), Kingdom of Belgium (represented initially by C. Pochet, A. Van Baelen and L. Van den Broeck, acting as Agents, and subsequently by C. Pochet, acting as Agent), Portuguese Republic (represented by C. Alves, P. Barros da Costa, P. Estevão, S. Leite, A. Pimenta and M. Sousa, acting as Agents)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Annuls the part of the sentence ‘including the elements referred to in paragraph 2’ in the fifth sentence of Article 5(1) of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, Article 5(2) of that directive and the part of the sentence ‘provided that the application of that mechanism does not lead to a decrease of the statutory minimum wage’ in Article 5(3) of that directive;










2.


Dismisses the action as to the remainder;










3.


Orders the Kingdom of Denmark to pay two thirds of the costs incurred by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union and to bear two thirds of its own costs;










4.


Orders the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pay one third of the costs incurred by the Kingdom of Denmark and to bear one third of their own costs;










5.


Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Portuguese Republic, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Commission to bear their own costs.






(1)  
            OJ C 104, 20.3.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/132/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)