(de-news.net) – Despite opposition from state premiers, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is defending plans to terminate Germany’s deduction-free early retirement for workers with 45 years of contributions. Manuela Schwesig (SPD), the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is among the critics who contend that the reform would harm long-term employees and raise concerns about whether it should move forward without more extensive state involvement. The disagreement arises as the cabinet discussed policy lessons learned from this summer’s heatwave and indications of economic activity, while the government considers broader social reforms.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has rejected demands to preserve Germany’s pension provision allowing employees with 45 years of contributions to retire without deductions, including calls coming from within his own party. Following a cabinet retreat in Brandenburg, Merz said the coalition remained committed to implementing the pension commission’s recommendations as a whole. That approach includes measures intended to reduce incentives for early retirement, while hardship cases are to be taken into account during the legislative process. Merz also argued that the issue has particular relevance for eastern Germany, where labor shortages are more severe than in the western states and the available workforce is correspondingly more limited.
The position has set up a dispute with a number of state premiers over the proposed elimination of the so-called “pension at 63.” The measure has been questioned by several SPD state premiers as well as the three eastern German CDU leaders, including Michael Kretschmer and Mario Voigt. Manuela Schwesig, the prime minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has been among the most outspoken critics, maintaining that the chancellor should not determine the pension reform without consulting the state governments. From her perspective, the number of years a person has contributed to the pension system remains a central measure of fairness. Workers who entered employment at 16 or 18 and continued working and paying into the system throughout their careers, she argued, should retain the ability to retire two years earlier without deductions.
Schwesig has also maintained that abolishing the provision would place a disproportionate burden on people with long employment histories. Her argument has been reinforced, she said, by a recent ZDF political poll showing that 75 percent of Germans opposed ending the pension entitlement for people who have been insured for particularly long periods. She has therefore called for the proposal to be set aside. Merz, however, subsequently reaffirmed his intention to follow the pension commission’s recommendations in full, including the planned abolition of deduction-free early retirement after 45 years of contributions. The disagreement has also raised a procedural question that remains unresolved: whether the pension reform will ultimately require approval by the Bundesrat.
Beyond the pension dispute, the cabinet used its meeting to consider the implications of this summer’s heatwave and the policy lessons it could offer. Merz called for stronger measures in several areas, including wildfire prevention and response, public health preparedness, agriculture and commerce. The discussion reflected the need, as he presented it, to draw practical conclusions from the extreme heat and incorporate them into government policy. As the coalition prepares for broader social reforms, Merz also urged optimism about the country’s prospects. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD), meanwhile, pointed to positive economic signals, including an increase in new business formations, as evidence of activity in the economy.
