Overview
- After a three‑week summer break, Friedrich Merz returned this weekend and said he will push the government to implement the reform package “as quickly as possible” at the cabinet Klausur in Schloss Neuhardenberg on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Merz’s first public stop was the Hürtgenwald wildfire site, where parts of the crowd booed him, underscoring criticism of his long absence during recent crises and weak crisis communication.
- The reform package covers pensions, tax relief for small and medium incomes, cuts for statutory health funds, digitalisation, deregulation and a building‑modernisation/heating law that will require coordination between Bundestag and Bundesrat.
- Concrete obstacles have emerged inside his own camp: Saxony’s Michael Kretschmer said he will not back the planned pension changes in the Bundesrat, and Health Minister Carsten Linnemann signalled he opposes cuts to pension credits for family carers.
- Public support is weak and regional elections loom; YouGov polling shows a majority expect Merz to be replaced before 2029, and rising AfD support in polls increases pressure on the Union and the speed and shape of the reform drive.