Overview
- Named votes are scheduled this morning on a Wehrdienst modernization bill and later on the coalition’s pension package, turning the sitting into a test of government stability.
- Friedrich Merz set a target of the 316-vote chancellor’s majority and canceled a Norway trip to manage the count, as a CDU/CSU probe vote indicated roughly 10–15 potential dissenters.
- The Left Party says it will abstain on the pension package, which lowers the threshold for passage, though the coalition insists on winning on its own votes; with 64 Linke abstentions, the effective majority could drop to about 284 if all others are present.
- The pension package would fix the pension-to-wage ratio at 48% through 2031, expand the Mütterrente, and introduce an Aktivrente to ease work in retirement, with multi‑billion‑euro costs rising after 2027.
- The Wehrdienst plan reinstates mandatory mustering for cohorts from 2008 with service remaining voluntary at first and a Bedarfswehrpflicht option if recruiting falls short, drawing nationwide student protests as NATO readiness targets drive the push.