Overview
- An expert Alterssicherungskommission delivered 33 recommendations in late June and Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas have publicly vowed to implement the package largely in full.
- The plan would end the ‘Rente mit 63’, link the statutory retirement age to life expectancy, bring self‑employed and parliamentarians into the statutory system and create a new capital‑funded supplement.
- Including civil servants in the statutory pension and phasing other changes raises transition costs and legal complexity, with commission member Peter Bofinger warning of a prolonged ‘double burden’ on the state.
- The proposals have opened intra‑coalition rifts — the CSU opposes ending contribution‑free minijobs while the Junge Union defends the commission — and the coalition will set a timetable at an upcoming Koalitionsausschuss before cabinet and parliamentary drafting.
- Urgent timing pressure comes from parallel rules taking effect on 1 July (a 4.24% pension rise, Bürgergeld renamed Grundsicherung with tougher duties, and new minijob pension options) and a hard legal deadline on 31 December 2026 when the temporary protection against Jobcenter‑forced early retirement expires risking permanent pension cuts for affected beneficiaries.