Overview

• CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann calls for an EU-level redefinition of who qualifies as a worker to prevent able full‑timers from working minimal hours and topping up with Bürgergeld.
• He proposes making employers who use illegal labor fully liable for wrongly paid benefits, arguing that those who facilitate fraud should pay.
• Linnemann labels undeclared work a major gateway for social‑benefit fraud and urges tougher enforcement against shadow‑economy practices.
• Labour Minister Bärbel Bas says forthcoming proposals will strengthen data exchange among immigration authorities, jobcenters and customs, with the Federal Employment Agency planning a Kompetenzzentrum Leistungsmissbrauch.
• Reports describe organized networks recruiting EU citizens with sham contracts to trigger top‑ups, and authorities recorded 421 gang‑related benefit‑fraud cases in 2024 with a higher dark figure suspected.