Günter Krings, deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, has accused Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) of still having failed to present the agreed action plan against social benefit abuse. As a result, people who are wanted under arrest warrants are continuing to collect basic income support in Germany, Krings told the Düsseldorf-based newspaper "Rheinische Post" in its Monday edition. "The rest of the world can only be shaking its head at us." Following Krings' criticism, the SPD signalled that it was ready to act quickly.
Krings said he was "appalled", because Bas's labour ministry apparently sees no urgency in putting an end to this situation. "Ms Bas was supposed to present a plan on this in July. None of that has happened." According to the report, arrest warrants are outstanding across Germany for more than 100,000 people. How many of them are drawing basic income support — the benefit that replaced the previous citizen's income (Bürgergeld), is not known.
Under the rules currently in force, an open arrest warrant is not on its own a reason to stop payments. What matters is the so-called reachability requirement: a claimant who remains contactable by their jobcentre keeps their entitlement to basic income support, irrespective of whether a warrant has been issued against them. Someone can therefore be evading the police and still satisfy the test that governs their benefit. The provision was not created by the recent reform, it was carried over unchanged from the old Bürgergeld system into the new basic income support when it took effect on 1 July 2026, and was only tightened.
The SPD rejected Krings' criticism. The party's parliamentary group also wants "the agreed measures to be implemented quickly and in a legally sound manner", deputy parliamentary group leader Dagmar Schmidt told the news agency AFP. "Anyone who evades an arrest warrant or systematically abuses social benefits must not be able to rely on state bodies working at cross purposes."
The SPD social policy specialist in turn called on the CDU/CSU to show loyalty to the coalition agreement. "We too are waiting for important projects from CDU-led ministries," Schmidt said. "Particularly after the austerity legislation and the burdens that came with it, people rightly expect that they will now also experience the other side of reform policy: noticeable improvements in everyday life. They want to get a doctor's appointment more quickly and to find reliable, easily accessible medical care."
The jobcentres responsible for paying out basic income support frequently do not have the information that an arrest warrant exists for an applicant. The authorities are therefore to be given the ability to exchange such data with one another. Clarifying how data protection can nevertheless be safeguarded is a task for the federal government.
The labour ministry told the "Rheinische Post" that it was working on the action plan together with the federal interior ministry, but that no cabinet date could be given yet. Implementation of the new legislation "is still being targeted for the end of 2026", a spokesperson for the labour ministry said.
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