<p>For several years, the question of whether a member state can prescribe the national minimum wage in the case of cross-border transit traffic has been fiercely debated both at a political and at a legal level. The compatibility of the minimum wage controls with the EU freedom to provide services has been regularly discussed in this context, but a fundamental discussion of the problem using empirical data has not, however, been carried out to date. The following contribution therefore essentially deals with the question of in which public interest a minimum wage control in the case of cross-border transit traffic would be and to what degree this can be justified in view of the principle of proportionality. <br /><br /><br /></p>