Overview
- The Alterssicherungskommission published a 33-recommendation report on June 23 that calls for abolishing the Abschlagsfreie Rente for people with 45 contributory years, raising the earliest access for the 35-year rule from 63 to 64, and linking future statutory retirement ages to life expectancy.
- The government coalition's Koalitionsausschuss said on July 2 it aims to turn the commission's package into a single law in 2026 and the cabinet cleared a separate Frühstartrente draft on August 12 that would pay €10 per month into youth saving depots.
- Parties remain divided over timing and scope with several SPD figures expressing strong reservations while CDU/CSU leaders including Friedrich Merz support abolition provided there are multi-year transition and hardship protections.
- Analyses and campaigning groups warn the changes would hit low earners and workers in physically or mentally demanding jobs hardest because many current beneficiaries rely on the 45-year pathway and long careers often produce modest pensions.
- Key unresolved issues for lawmakers are the length and form of transition or Vertrauensschutz rules, concrete medical and hardship criteria, and fiscal trade-offs between modest cohort savings from abolishing the 45-year rule and the cost of proposed Grundsicherungs‑freibeträge which could total hundreds of millions up to about €1 billion annually.