Overview

• The CDU-SPD coalition will replace Bürgergeld with a new Grundsicherung enforcing stricter work requirements and faster penalties for refusing job offers.
• CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann says the reform will launch in spring 2026 after at least a yearlong legislative procedure.
• SPD Labor Minister Bärbel Bas supports tougher sanctions but opposes proposals to fully withdraw benefits from repeat job-offer refusers.
• Lawmakers must contend with Federal Constitutional Court limits on total sanctions after a 2019 ruling deemed them unconstitutional.
• Officials tout the reform as the most significant social security update since Agenda 2010 aimed at curbing system abuse and boosting employment.