Johannes Winkel: Union Vice President insists on a pension compromise and puts the brakes on Miersch's proposal

There is new anger between the coalition partners in the dispute over pension reform: Union parliamentary group vice-president Johannes Winkel has spoken out against the proposal from SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch. Miersch had suggested involving parliamentary groups and state heads of government in the preparation of the reform. Winkel rejects this. »It makes no sense to set up a new pension commission with new actors after the comprehensive work of the commission and the political agreement. It's about reliability and decision-making ability," Winkel told the dpa news agency.

The coalition agreed before the summer break to implement the compromises recommended by the Pension Commission as an overall package, said Winkel. The parliamentary group leaders then committed to implementing the reform package in Münster at the end of August. »It's time to keep your word. It’s time to make decisions,” said Winkel. At the end of 2025, he was one of a group of young Union MPs who had meanwhile opposed Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) in the dispute over the pension package.

Miersch said in an interview with "Zeit": "There is the idea that the parliamentary groups and possibly also the prime ministers should be included in the process before there is a cabinet decision." This has already happened with other laws. "The exact form of organization would have to be discussed, and in any case the factions would have to be included."

The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig (SPD), criticized the pension compromise from the start. The East German CDU prime ministers also view him critically. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) is currently working on a draft law to implement the pension compromise.