Overview

• The Union’s Junge Gruppe of 18 CDU/CSU lawmakers declared the pension package “not acceptable,” citing more than €115 billion in extra costs from 2032 to 2040 and jeopardizing the coalition’s narrow Bundestag majority.
• The cabinet-approved bill guarantees a minimum 48% pension level through 2031 and is slated for passage this year, but the dissenters want anything beyond 2031 left to the ongoing pensions commission.
• The Aktivrente, scheduled for January 1, 2026, would let retirees at the regular retirement age in social‑insurance jobs earn up to €2,000 per month tax‑free, exclude the self‑employed, undergo a two‑year review, and reduce tax revenues by about €890 million annually.
• The government set 2026 social insurance parameters, including raising the Minijob earnings limit to €603 per month from January 1, 2026.
• An interim Bund‑Länder report on care financing keeps all Pflegegrade, flags a roughly €2 billion gap in 2026, and explores capping co‑payment increases and testing mandatory or opt‑out private supplemental coverage.