Sweden: A Minimum Wage Model in Need of Modification?

Swedish minimum wages are not regulated by law, but subject to bargaining between employers and trade unions and form part of collective agreements. This paper provides an overview of the Swedish minimum wage system, its characteristics and effects on employment and wages, and also discusses the challenges to the model represented by increasing low-wage competition from new EU member states and the verdict in the Laval case, related to this process and the first of its kind in post-enlargement EU.