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On January 14, 2020, the European Commission started its initiative to establish fair minimum wages in Europe. Based on a discussion of the living wage concept, this article analyzes how recent national initiatives for substantial minimum wage increases in various EU Member States and the Commission’s initiative to develop a European minimum wage policy could mutually reinforce each other and eventually lead to fair minimum wages in Europe that enable workers to enjoy a decent living standard. In view of the significant differences in the minimum wage regimes and welfare state traditions, this article argues for a pragmatic approach of taking the “in-work-poverty-wage” threshold of 60% of the national full-time gross median wage as the reference for the assessment of the adequacy of minimum wages in Europe.