Chancellor Merz proposes €5 billion cuts to citizen’s benefit

In the debate on social reform, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has set a specific savings target for citizen's benefit (bürgergeld): He is “convinced” that ten percent must be saved in the citizen's benefit system, Merz said Tuesday in an interview with the television station Sat1. Specifically, this would mean savings of just under five billion euros per year. “If we no longer dare to save ten percent in a transfer system that is heading in the wrong direction, then we are failing in this task,” Merz continued.

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Ten percent must be “the minimum amount,” the chancellor added. The Union is pushing for a reform of the social security system due to the high costs, as agreed in the coalition agreement with the SPD. However, the SPD does not want to support any cuts in benefits and wants to maintain the current level of social protection.  

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Nevertheless, the chancellor expressed confidence in the interview that the savings he is targeting would be possible with the SPD through a reform of the citizen's benefit system. Even some Social Democrats are talking about “mafia-like structures” in the citizen's benefit system, Merz said on Sat1. There is room for reform here.

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The chancellor was critical of the “bullshit” comment made by Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD). “That is not the kind of language I want to accept for the coalition as a whole,” Merz said. He had discussed this with the SPD co-leader. " I also told her that we should not continue at this level – and we are not," said Merz. The debate on the welfare state is being conducted in the coalition with some harsh words. Over the weekend, Bas described Merz's comment that we can no longer afford the welfare state as “bullshit.”

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Overall, the chancellor expressed satisfaction with the performance of his government to date. “We got everything we set out to do before the summer break through the federal cabinet, through the Bundestag, and through the Bundesrat,” Merz emphasized. However, the failed election of Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, the SPD candidate for the Federal Constitutional Court, had “overshadowed” the government's work.

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The Union has “already achieved a lot” with the SPD, Merz said. But there is still much to be done: “I know what we have to do.” On Wednesday, the coalition leaders will meet at Merz's office in the Chancellery for a coalition committee meeting to launch specific projects for the coming months.

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