Luxembourg, Belgium Sign Joint Declaration on Living Wage & Living Income

On Tuesday 27 June 2023, Luxembourg and Belgium joined the Netherlands and Germany in signing the "Joint Declaration on Living Wage and Living Income".

The Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs noted in a press release that the responsibility of consuming countries includes ensuring that everyone in the entire supply chain of a product (e.g. a chocolate bar) has the right to decent work, a living wage and a living income. It also emphasised the role of such conditions at the global level in helping to address major challenges such as poverty, hunger, deforestation, climate change and child labour.

The ministry recalled that living incomes and wages constitute a fundamental human right, as included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 23). Similarly, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights articulates this right as binding legal obligations.

However, too many workers and smallholder farmers worldwide are still living in poverty due to insufficient incomes and wages.

Consequently, in January 2021, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development signed a Joint Declaration on Living Wage and Living Income. In June 2022, the Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation and Major Cities announced Belgium's willingness to join as a third signatory. Similarly, in September 2022, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs expressed the willingness of the Grand Duchy to sign this joint declaration.

On Tuesday 27 June 2023, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Liesje Schreinemacher, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation and Major Cities, Caroline Gennez, and Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, announced that Luxembourg and Belgium have now signed the Joint Declaration on Living Wage and Living Income.

This declaration proposes several concrete actions such as a dialogue between consuming and producing countries with regard to adequate minimum wages and incomes, support for the International Labour Organization (ILO) in order to develop international definitions and indicators, and support for social dialogue, which is expected to empower workers in producing countries. Furthermore, the like-minded countries pledge to work together to put the issue on the agenda of EU regulation and policy.

The four signatories of this joint declaration have expressed their support for an ambitious EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) which protects the rights of workers and smallholder farmers in global supply chains. The involved ministers thus welcomed the position of the European Parliament from 1 June 2023, which proposes to include living incomes for producers and smallholders in the upcoming EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence.

By signing this joint declaration, the four countries have emphasised their commitment to living incomes and wages worldwide.

Minister Fayot stated in a video message: "I am pleased that Luxembourg now officially joins the group of likeminded EU Member States who share a common goal of a sustainable, inclusive and balanced global economy." He added: "The wellbeing of people, the protection of the planet and the promotion of prosperity are all interconnected and must become a priority across supply chains, leaving no one behind. We are committed to working together to achieve this aim."