Federal Government: “It’s been too long for me”: Chancellor Friedrich Merz is increasing the pressure on the SPD

Berlin. One day after the resignation of Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) called for the reforms agreed in the coalition to be implemented quickly.

At the "Employer Day" of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), the Chancellor called on Bas' designated successor Alexander Schweitzer to quickly present the planned pension reform.

The pension commission's proposals have been available since the end of June. Almost four months have passed since then, said Merz, emphasizing: “That’s already too long for me.”

Schweitzer must now initiate the legislative process. “And so quickly and so quickly that we can get the bills that we have agreed upon, some of which are already in draft form, into the cabinet as quickly as possible,” said Merz.

Ideally, the pension draft would then not only be thoroughly formulated, but also coordinated with the parliamentary groups and the federal states.

“If that is achieved this year, then he has done his job,” said the Chancellor about Schweitzer, who will receive his certificate of appointment on Tuesday afternoon and take part in his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning.

Merz stated the goal of passing the pension reform in the government this year and getting it through the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in the first quarter of next year.

For Merz, the reforms are a question of justice. It's about improving the prospects for the young generation.

This is necessary, even if it costs him approval. “I have no intention of becoming the nation’s darling,” said Merz.

Merz is sticking to the Pension Commission's recommendation to gradually abolish early retirement without deductions, also known as "pension at 63" - despite considerable resistance from the SPD.

Without incentives for early retirement, the system would be fairer, Merz emphasized, since otherwise fewer and fewer working people would have to finance more and more pensioners.

The Chancellor argued that if you were healthy and fit and retired earlier without any deductions, that would not be fair.

Schweitzer, on the other hand, rejects the abolition of early retirement without deductions. “Life’s achievement deserves recognition,” he said recently.

Although there is agreement between the Union and the SPD on most of the Pension Commission's reform proposals, a new coalition conflict is emerging on this issue.

Employers who had high hopes for Friedrich Merz's chancellorship called on the federal government to accelerate the pace of reform.

“Anyone who brakes is acting irresponsibly,” said employer president Rainer Dulger, without explicitly mentioning the SPD.

Dulger appealed to the Chancellor to quickly implement the promised reforms - even against the “slowers” ​​in the coalition.

The first priority must be “more net from gross,” Dulger told the Chancellor. In the future, additional wage costs would have to fall below the 40 percent mark of wages. They are currently at 42.3 percent.

At this year's employers' meeting, BDA President Dulger emphasized that he was looking forward to working with Bas' successor Alexander Schweitzer.

Dulger did not mention that Schweitzer in the SPD is one of those who want to receive a pension at 63 and that the pension reform could become more difficult in the cabinet than already expected.

Despite the tensions in the coalition, Chancellor Merz committed to the alliance with the Social Democrats.

“I want to be successful in this coalition,” he said. The federal government has already achieved a lot. The economy is growing again and Germany is popular with international investors.

He will therefore continue to fight “so that, despite some differences of opinion, what is right and what is necessary always prevails in the federal government.”