Overview
- Carsten Linnemann proposes restricting new lifetime appointments to areas with a special duty to the state such as police, fire services, tax authorities and customs.
- He questions the need to keep most ministry staff as career civil servants and points to a planned 8% staff reduction in federal ministries by 2029.
- The dbb union rejects the plan, calling the civil service a stabilizing, strike‑free guarantor of neutrality and a bulwark against extremism, warning against US‑style patronage.
- CSU and Green figures defend the traditional system for stability and recruitment, while the Greens also call for more flexibility and movement between public service and the private sector.
- The SPD signals openness to discuss the scope and pensions, as data show about 1.7 million civil servants in mid‑2024 with teachers forming the largest group.