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EU Statement - ILO 355th GB - Report of the implementation of the conclusions of the Meeting of Experts on wage policies, including living wages

26.11.2025
Geneva
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

ILO Governing Body, 355th session 

17 – 27 November 2025

Report of the implementation of the conclusions of the Meeting of Experts on wage policies, including living wages

GB.355/POL/1

EU statement
 

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania1, Ukraine, the EFTA country Norway, align themselves with this statement.

  1. We thank the Office for its comprehensive report that provides an overview of ILO’s work to implement the conclusions of the Meeting of Experts on wage policies, including living wages.
  2. The EU and its Member States fully support these adopted conclusions, which form a solid basis for further work. The conclusions provide guidance on what a living wage is, methodologies for estimating it, and how to operationalise it. We welcome the actions taken by the ILO and its constituents to advance their implementation.
  3. The report provides an impressive overview of the work accomplished by the ILO. We particularly welcome that the conclusions have reinvigorated concrete actions on living wages, sparking initiatives to strengthen minimum wage systems and encourage ratifications of relevant conventions. We commend the actions that many countries have taken.
  4. While we commend the launch of the first-ever ILO Programme on Living Wages, we believe it should be closely connected to the key initiative on living wages within the Global Coalition for Social Justice, to ensure a real impact.
  5. We encourage the Office to reaffirm its leadership by continuing to promote the conclusions of the Expert Meeting and strengthen its methodology for estimating living wages. The ILO’s expertise and legitimacy makes it uniquely positioned to set the standard in this area.
  6. The ILO has an important role in promoting the centrality of social dialogue in wage-setting processes and the key role of the social partners in these processes. We welcome ILO’s focus on strengthening wage-setting processes including increasing the capacity of constituents to set wages through social dialogue. The ILO’s technical assistance on collective bargaining of wages and capacity-building for employers’ and workers’ organisations is important in this regard.
  7. We appreciate that the ILO is actively engaging with other UN bodies and numerous living wage initiatives. We encourage the ILO to continue and expand these engagements and keep exploring other forms of cooperation to support and strengthen initiatives such as the wage hub and the methodology for estimating living wages.
  8. We encourage the ILO to enhance partnerships with the private sector to accelerate the work on living wages. The ILO is uniquely equipped to support constituents and private sector actors with its knowledge and expertise.
  9. We welcome the linkages between the ILO’s work on wage policies, including living wages, and the ILO’s strategy on decent work in supply chains. We request the Office to keep exploring synergies with other initiatives within the ILO, for example with the Better Work Programme.
  10. The ILO’s work on wage policies, including living wages, comes at a crucial moment. We are confident that the ILO, together with its constituents, the private sector, and living wage initiatives, can take the necessary next steps to further advance the implementation of the conclusions of the Meeting of Experts.
  11. On the basis of these comments, the EU and its Member States support the decision points.

Thank you, Chair.

 

1North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process