(de-news.net) – In response to criticism voiced during the bill’s formal introduction in the Bundestag on Thursday, Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) has offered an extensive defense of the government’s plan to replace the current Bürgergeld system with a redesigned basic-security framework. She explained that the reform’s central objective was to generate new and sustainable opportunities by elevating expectations regarding individual accountability, procedural compliance, and active involvement in labor-market processes. Bas underscored that the state would continue to safeguard those who were chronically ill, temporarily incapacitated, or otherwise unable to participate in the workforce. In her view, the commitment to providing protection and essential support to such groups remained a core element of the social state and would continue to represent a non-negotiable expression of collective solidarity.
At the same time, Bas emphasized that individuals who were able to contribute to their own reintegration into employment would be required to fulfill that responsibility. These expectations, she noted, extended to the routine but essential obligations of attending scheduled appointments, responding to administrative communications, and participating constructively in agreed-upon measures. In her assessment, repeated failures to appear for appointments, unjustified refusals of reasonable job offers, or the premature abandonment of qualifying programs would, under the new system, trigger more immediate and visibly defined consequences. By reorganizing the basic-security structure, Bas maintained, the government intended not only to improve administrative clarity but also to send a broader political and social signal discouraging the misuse or exploitation of social benefits. While she acknowledged that instances of abuse concerned only a very small minority, she argued that even limited cases undermined public confidence and therefore constituted an issue of distributive justice as well as institutional credibility.
Meanwhile, Chancellery Chief Thorsten Frei (CDU) projected that the reform could yield substantial fiscal savings for public budgets. He suggested that a marked reduction in the current figure of approximately 5.5 million Bürgergeld recipients would likely produce significant relief for the state, potentially exceeding 80 million euros annually. Frei stressed that such estimates were inherently dependent on the eventual legislative configuration adopted by the Bundestag and Bundesrat, and that the magnitude of savings would vary according to the final scope and design of the reform provisions.
Responding to criticism from opposition parties and social organizations, CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann also defended the introduction of the new basic-security program, aligning his remarks with the broader governmental rationale. He argued that the reform aimed to restore what he described as a renewed sense of societal fairness while reestablishing an appropriate equilibrium between state-provided support and the obligations placed on benefit recipients. Under the updated framework, individuals deemed able to work but who repeatedly miss appointments or consistently decline reasonable employment opportunities would no longer qualify for continued benefits. Linnemann further maintained that reinstating the principle that job placement should take precedence over secondary measures would accelerate labor-market reintegration, reinforce personal autonomy, and reduce the likelihood that individuals become entrenched in long-term programs that fail to lead to sustainable employment. By ensuring more direct pathways back into work, he argued, the reform would help guarantee that all members of society contribute adequately to the shared system of collective solidarity.
