Overview
- Eighteen members of the Union’s youth bloc say they will vote no, leaving a coalition majority of roughly a dozen at risk, with reports suggesting total CDU/CSU opposition could reach 40 to 50 MPs.
- The fight centers on keeping the pension level near 48% through 2031 and at a higher level thereafter, a move critics estimate would add about €115–120 billion by 2040.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil insist the bill should pass this year without changes, and a proposed nonbinding parliamentary assurance was rejected by the rebels as too weak.
- Labor Minister and SPD leader Bärbel Bas warns defeat would intensify unrest in the coalition, as the package also carries the Aktivrente and an expansion of the Mütterrente.
- The coalition has fast‑tracked a pension commission to deliver proposals in the first half of 2026, while economists urge measures like restoring the sustainability factor or raising the retirement age and employer groups call to freeze the bill.