Overview
- Younger CDU/CSU lawmakers have challenged core elements of the government’s pension package, exposing fractures inside the Union.
- Reports indicate minority-government scenarios were circulated within the Union this week, though senior figures say no concrete plan exists.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz has rejected minority-rule speculation, calling the idea not thought through and insisting the coalition will hold.
- The coalition’s narrow majority raises the risk that defections could determine the outcome of the pension legislation.
- Parliament faces two near-term tests with the 2026 budget decision later this month and a pension vote expected in early December.