Overview
- Eighteen younger lawmakers from the CDU/CSU bloc have publicly threatened to block the coalition’s pension plans.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s call for constructive engagement has not shifted the group, and parliamentary leader Jens Spahn is negotiating with the rebels.
- SPD Social Minister Bärbel Bas, who authored the plan, rejects changes, while Junge Union leaders demand substantive revisions rather than cosmetic concessions.
- Reporting indicates the Left party under Heidi Reichinnek is considering backing the bill to ensure a majority, though Union leaders say relying on opposition votes is out of the question.
- The flare-up follows earlier coalition setbacks and comes as the BSW fractures in Brandenburg, where four lawmakers quit after being told to oppose two broadcasting treaties.