Overview
- The cabinet’s pension package, including the Aktivrente allowing retirees to earn up to €2,000 per month tax‑free from non‑self‑employed work with social contributions still due, has entered parliamentary debate.
- In a marathon sitting, the Bundestag held first readings on the pension‑stabilization law and the new Wehrdienst bill as the coalition raced procedural clocks.
- Eighteen young CDU/CSU lawmakers in the Junge Gruppe oppose the pension plan, a potential block given the government’s cushion of roughly a dozen votes over an absolute majority.
- SPD floor leader Mathias Miersch insists the Union back the cabinet decision he says the chancellor endorsed, pressing for the pension draft to proceed unchanged.
- Defense Minister Boris Pistorius halted a lottery‑based Wehrdienst compromise as a “rotten deal,” the president voiced doubts about such a lottery, and public critics faulted the chancellor for skirting the dispute in his address while leaders pledged a resolution with a target start of January 1, 2026.