Overview
- A cohort of 18 young Union lawmakers signaled they could withhold support for Labor Minister Bärbel Bas’s proposal to underwrite pensions from 2032 to 2040, rejecting costs cited around €100–118 billion as beyond the coalition’s 2031 pledge.
- Junge Union leader Johannes Winkel argued on Maybrit Illner that the package lacks generational fairness and said Merz intends to take charge, adding that younger MPs have a duty to oppose the plan.
- Ifo president Clemens Fuest compared the pay‑as‑you‑go model to a “chain letter,” warned contributions cannot rise indefinitely, and said future pension growth should trail wage growth.
- SPD general secretary Tim Klüssendorf urged a compromise, opposed a sharp reset of the pension level after 2031, and pointed to broadening the contributor base as a reform avenue.
- Merz recently warned that diverging public‑spending and private‑investment trends must converge by 2029 or the government will have failed, as media scrutiny and party events raise pressure for a course correction.