Following sharp criticism of his statements characterizing pensions as mere "basic security," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has sought to provide context and rejected any intention to implement cuts. "There will be no reductions to statutory pensions under our leadership," Merz declared Saturday during a speech at the federal conference of the Christian Democratic Employees' Association (CDA) in Marburg. He emphasized that this position has always been clear.
CDA Chairman Dennis Radtke called for "mandatory occupational pension coverage for all."
Merz continued by expressing gratitude "that we were able to agree on this with the SPD, so that we are no longer just talking about maintaining certain levels," but rather about "a new overall pension provision level" in which "the three pillars of statutory pension insurance, occupational pension provision, and private provision must be placed in a new relationship to one another."
According to Merz, there must be "greater emphasis on capital market-based pension systems" so that workers "also have the opportunity to participate in the overall wealth development of our economy."
Merz had stated Monday at a banking association event that pensions could in future "at best still be the basic security for old age." This comment has since drawn partly sharp criticism, particularly from coalition partner SPD. The government-appointed pension commission plans to present its reform recommendations on June 30.
CDA Chairman Radtke told WDR on Saturday that Merz used the opportunity at the CDU social wing's federal conference to "clarify and properly contextualize" his statements. "In the future, we will need to think about the three pillars of pension insurance much more interconnectedly," Radtke added. A "mandatory occupational pension provision for all" is needed, he demanded.
The President of the Social Association VdK, Verena Bentele, called Merz's statements "cynical and out of touch with reality" in Sunday's Funke Media Group newspapers, given the fact "that already today 38 percent of workers have no money for additional retirement provision." Merz ignores "that many cannot afford private provision."
However, Merz also faced incomprehension within his own party. Saxony-Anhalt's Minister President Sven Schulze (CDU) doubled down in an interview with news magazine "Stern." An adequate pension is "existentially important" for people and "for social peace" in the country, he said according to Sunday's advance release. In eastern Germany, "the pension is not basic security, but often the only basis for aging with dignity."
He expects from the pension commission "that they not only take note of the special situation in Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Germany, but also consider it in their proposals." People did not have enough money to provide privately, and there is also less wealth, real estate or inheritances and occupational pensions.
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