(de-news.net) – Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) has advocated for a far‑reaching reform agenda that, in her view, must extend well beyond the parameters laid out in the current CDU/SPD coalition agreement. Her call for action comes in direct response to Germany’s persistently weak economic performance, which she argues demands a more ambitious and comprehensive policy approach. Reiche underscored that although the coalition agreement provides an important framework for governmental decision‑making, it should not be interpreted as a ceiling on necessary reforms. Rather, she maintained that expanding the scope of policy initiatives through constructive cooperation within the coalition is essential for restoring Germany’s long‑term competitiveness and ensuring the country’s economic resilience.
A central priority for Reiche is the expansion of the overall labor supply, an objective she considers inseparable from meaningful pension reform. She contended that Germany must engage in a candid national dialogue about longer working lives, acknowledging that such a discussion inevitably raises the question of increasing the statutory retirement age. Recognizing that proposals of this nature often encounter political and public resistance, Reiche also highlighted the importance of alternative strategies to raise total hours worked. These include adjustments to tax policy and the expansion of childcare and daycare infrastructure, measures that would make full‑time employment more feasible and attractive for individuals currently working part‑time. At the same time, she argued for a modernization of employment protection regulations, asserting that a more flexible system could simultaneously safeguard vulnerable workers and enable companies—particularly those operating in high‑wage sectors—to adapt their workforce more swiftly in response to evolving market conditions.
Reiche further urged the newly established pension commission to conduct a rigorous and transparent assessment of the existing pension framework and to put forward recommendations that address its structural shortcomings. She stressed the need not only to reexamine retirement age benchmarks but also to curb the widespread use of early retirement pathways and to enhance incentives for continued employment beyond retirement eligibility. In her view, meaningful progress will require all parties—government, employers, and employees—to accept a degree of compromise. She criticized what she described as a contradiction between employers’ frequent warnings about labor shortages and their ongoing reliance on early exit arrangements for experienced older workers, arguing that such practices undermine efforts to stabilize the labor market and strengthen Germany’s economic foundation.
