Overview
- The federal pension commission recommended in June to end the abschlagsfreie early pension for people with 45 insurance years, a measure commonly called the "Rente mit 63".
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas said in July they would adopt the commission's 33 recommendations, but that pledge has come under intense political strain.
- A representative Insa poll conducted on August 6–7 found 68 percent of respondents oppose abolishing the rule and 56 percent said they would use or had used the benefit, increasing pressure on ministers.
- Leading unions, several eastern state premiers and parts of both coalition parties now demand protections such as long transition rules, a health-based hardship pension or a Schwerarbeitsrente like Austria’s, while experts warn the current rule costs roughly €10 billion a year.
- No law has been passed and key details — exact transition periods, which birth cohorts would be spared, and precise hardship criteria — remain unresolved, leaving the future of the wider reform package uncertain and at risk of unraveling.