Overview
- On ZDF’s Markus Lanz, Junge Union leader Johannes Winkel said his group will vote no without “substantive” changes that remove roughly €120 billion in projected costs linked to the extra one‑point guarantee.
- The draft secures a 48% pension level through 2031 and adds a sentence that the level will be one percentage point higher than under current law thereafter, which the young CDU/CSU MPs want deleted or reduced.
- SPD party leader Lars Klingbeil ruled out any changes to the bill, and the coalition still intends the reform to take effect on January 1, 2026.
- SPD politician Karl Lauterbach warned the dispute threatens the coalition’s stability and said the clause has been considered since 2018, arguing the cited costs equal about 1.5% of pension outlays from 2025 to 2040.
- Reports suggesting the rebel group has grown beyond the initial 18 MPs remain unverified, and economist Hans‑Werner Sinn proposed a roughly ten‑month increase in the retirement age as a potential alternative.