There was a sense of relief within the CDU/CSU–SPD coalition as the Bundestag passed the controversial pension package with a clear majority. In a roll-call vote on Friday, 318 out of 597 members of parliament voted in favor. Fifty-three abstained and 224 voted against the bill.
The most hotly debated issue was the planned stabilization of the pension level. Younger lawmakers from the CDU and CSU had been especially critical of this measure. For that reason, it had long been uncertain whether the government would secure a majority, but ultimately only seven Union lawmakers voted no.
A central element of the package sets the pension level at 48 percent of the current average income until 2031. The Union’s youth faction criticized this, warning of follow-up costs of around 120 billion euros and pushing back strongly. Because of this, the pension package had been at risk: with its 18 members, the youth faction could have blocked the plan. In the end, seven CDU/CSU members voted against it, including six from the youth faction. Two other young Union lawmakers abstained. The SPD parliamentary group voted unanimously in favor.
The AfD and the Greens rejected the proposal completely, while the Left Party, as previously announced, abstained. This meant the package received what Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had demanded: a “chancellor’s majority,” meaning an absolute majority not only of those present but of all 630 members of the Bundestag.
The Chancellor described the adopted pension package as “a first step in the right direction.” However, he stressed that it was merely the beginning: “The work now lies ahead of us,” Merz said, announcing “a comprehensive pension reform” for next year.
Responsibility for the pension package lies with the Ministry of Labour, led by Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD). Throughout the dispute over the package, Bas repeatedly urged the Union to approve the jointly agreed measure. With the clear vote now secured, she sees the coalition strengthened: “The majority stands,” Bas said after the vote. “That is good for the coalition; it stabilizes it.”
Jens Spahn (CDU), head of the Union’s parliamentary group, echoed this sentiment, calling it “a good day for the coalition.” “It debates, but then it also decides,” he said. The Greens saw things differently. Parliamentary group leaders Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge declared: “Friedrich Merz was only just able to prevent his coalition from flying off the track today.” They argued that the Chancellor cannot rely on a stable majority in parliament. “The coalition of the Union and SPD is standing on extremely shaky ground after just seven months.”
The Left Party’s parliamentary group chair, Heidi Reichinnek, defended her group’s abstention. “Another reduction of the already far too low pension level would be a catastrophe for millions of pensioners in this country, and we will not be part of that,” she said. She accused the Union of “internal power games.”
The pension package also includes an expansion of the “mothers’ pension,” concerning parents of children born before 1992. In the future, their childcare will be credited as a full three years in pension calculations, resulting in higher pensions for affected mothers and fathers. Two additional bills included in the pension package were also passed, one aimed at strengthening company pension schemes and another introducing a new “active pension.” The latter is designed to create incentives for people to continue working beyond the statutory retirement age.
Even after the package was approved, the Junge Union continued to call for long-term pension reform. “This is only the beginning,” said Junge Union chairman Johannes Winkel (CDU) in an interview with Der Spiegel. “Germany’s need for reform does not become smaller with this pension package — it becomes even greater.”
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