Overview
- The cabinet is expected to install the 13-member commission in mid-December, with proposals due by the end of the second quarter of 2026.
- Social and welfare associations including SoVD, VdK and the Paritätischer warn they are being left out, arguing citizens’ perspectives will be missing.
- The panel’s structure foresees two co-chairs named by Bärbel Bas and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, three party-designated deputies and eight scientists split between Union and SPD, with consensus sought but majority decisions possible.
- Its mandate covers financing a stable pension level, securing contribution-rate stability for ten years, potentially widening who pays into the system and examining a longer working life beyond 67.
- Coalition leaders say they will implement the commission’s proposals in 2026, as debates intensify over ideas such as tying retirement to contribution years and over whether to expand the contributor base.