Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has called for a rethinking of retirement planning in light of planned pension reforms. "The statutory pension insurance alone will at best still be the basic security for old age," Merz said on Monday at the reception for the 75th anniversary of the German Banking Association. "It will no longer be sufficient to secure one’s standard of living in the long term."
Additional "capital-funded elements of occupational and private pension provision" are necessary, the Chancellor said. "And indeed to a far greater extent than we currently have them largely on the basis of voluntariness."
A pension commission appointed by the government is currently deliberating on a reform that should put the system on a solid footing in the long term. The commission wants to present its recommendations in the summer.
The federal government is "doing everything" to remedy the structural distortions and structural deficits of the country, Merz said with regard to competitiveness, the reduction of energy costs, and other planned reforms, for example in the area of income tax and health insurance. The black-red coalition had "achieved quite a bit" in almost a year, "but we are far from it being enough."
Merz sees the SPD in particular as having responsibility. "I will also talk very seriously with the coalition partner again this evening," the Chancellor announced. "What we have achieved so far is not enough for me." "We now have to see that we implement these reforms very quickly. I expect the Social Democrats to also resolve some blockades that we have unfortunately had again and again in recent weeks and months," the Chancellor emphasized.
SPD General Secretary Klüssendorf indignantly rejected the accusation of reform blockade. "This statement is unacceptable," he told Der Spiegel. "Anyone who repeatedly refuses structural reforms and immediately blocks any proposals from our ranks makes themselves absolutely unbelievable in calling for the SPD to abandon its supposed blocking stance."
The planned power plant strategy for the construction of new gas-fired power plants must now be implemented. In addition, corrections are needed in state subsidies in the area of renewable energies. He supports the further expansion of solar and wind energy, Merz emphasized. "But it makes absolutely no sense to still pay high subsidies from the federal budget for energy that is produced and not needed. We can no longer afford that."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has angered his coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with proposals for drastic cuts to the statutory pension system. The SPD reacted with outrage to these remarks. General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf announced on Tuesday that there would be "fierce resistance from the Social Democrats" against such reform plans.
"If the Federal Chancellor wants to cut the statutory pension down to a 'basic pension,' he will encounter the fierce resistance of the Social Democrats," announced General Secretary Klüssendorf. He pointed out that for more than half of the people in Germany, the statutory pension is the only form of retirement security, and in the eastern part of the country, this applies to three-quarters of all people.
SPD Parliamentary Managing Director Dirk Wiese also warned against overly drastic cuts to pensions. The statutory pension insurance "cannot be just a basic safeguard, but rather people must be able to rely on the statutory pension insurance," he told RTL and ntv. SPD Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader Dagmar Schmidt stated with regard to Merz's pension remarks: "Anyone who now fuels uncertainty and fears is acting irresponsibly."
On Tuesday, warnings emerged from within the CDU about an escalating coalition dispute. "The Chancellor is right, because impulses for savings cannot only come from the Union," Johannes Winkel, CDU member of the Bundestag and chairman of the Young Union, told Der Spiegel. At the same time, he cautioned: "But after the turbulent recent weeks, the coalition leaders should refrain from making public announcements to each other."
Merz's pension statements also met with clear rejection from the Greens and the Left Party. When the Chancellor "reduces the statutory pension to mere basic security without presenting viable alternatives, he once again leaves millions of people bewildered," Green Party leader Felix Banaszak told the Rheinische Post.
Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner told the newspaper: "The Chancellor's statements are a declaration of war on the millions of hard-working people in the country." This "out-of-touch politics" leads to people "losing trust and hope in politics."
BSW leader Fabio De Masi accused Merz of wanting "to cripple the statutory pension." He proposed a pension system based on the Austrian model, in which all citizens pay in and contributions for employees are capped.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
