Overview
- Delegates at the Junge Union’s Deutschlandtag unanimously urged the CDU/CSU caucus to vote down the government’s draft, and the 18-member Junge Gruppe in the Bundestag reiterated it will withhold support.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended the cabinet text and said he would back it "with a clear conscience," rebuking the party youth with "That cannot be your serious position."
- SPD leaders, including party co-chair Lars Klingbeil, ruled out any changes to the bill, insisting the 48 percent pension level be legislated as negotiated.
- Senior CDU voices showed sympathy for the youth wing’s fiscal concerns, with Seniors’ Union chair Hubert Hüppe and Baden-Württemberg leader Manuel Hagel signaling support, and Economy Minister Katherina Reiche aligning with the critics.
- The draft extends the 48 percent pension level to 2031 and includes language affecting calculations after that date; youth MPs cite roughly €115–120 billion in follow-up costs that Merz disputes, and the coalition’s roughly 12-seat margin means the dissent could sink the vote.