Labour and social policy minister Natalia Efremova says talks are coming on how to cut the number of people on the minimum wage. She said there should also be more chances to earn better pay. She spoke at a conference at the headquarters of the KNSB trade union. Planned changes in law point the same way.

The European Trade Union Confederation organised the international conference on raising wages through collective bargaining. The changes to the Labour Code set a new way to fix the minimum wage. They follow the EU directive on minimum wages.

There are 20 steps to support collective bargaining. Seven of them are changes in law. The rest aim to create the conditions for the talks themselves.

The exact sum will sit between a lower and an upper limit. Unions and employers will agree it within that range. Efremova says the result will reflect the state of the economy and the needs of each working person. She believes the new method encourages collective bargaining and makes social dialogue work better.

After a compromise with unions and employers, the four criteria now have set indicators that fit Bulgaria's conditions. They use the data Bulgaria has for now, for example the price index of the small consumer basket. It shows how fast the cost of the basket is rising. The calculation also includes the cost of living, because there are no other national data.

By law, the National Statistical Institute has nine months to develop a method to work out the cost of living. Efremova says Bulgaria has no such national method now. The deadline is set so that the first check on whether the wage is adequate can come after three years. By then, enough information from the new system will have been collected.

The minister named the challenges facing Europe's labour market: wars, the population crisis, digitalisation, inequality and economic uncertainty. She says this is a change that alters jobs, and people must be ready for it. Democratic institutions and a lasting social model can help the changes go more smoothly.

Efremova also quoted data showing that more than 60% of jobs are about to be affected by artificial intelligence.