Bonn. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has promised the Junge Union a strict reform course, including pensions, and has shown the SPD limits to further cooperation. “I do not place the success of the coalition, or in other words, the continued existence of the coalition, above every conceivable political achievement that we have to achieve together,” he said to the approximately 300 delegates in Bonn. “There are limits for me too.”
The Chancellor emphasized that he wanted to make the Union's signature more recognizable in the coalition. “It must also be clear who is the larger coalition partner in this coalition and who is the smaller coalition partner.”
He promised the delegates of the independent youth organization of the CDU and CSU that the pension compromise with the SPD from July would be fully implemented - including the controversial abolition of the pension without deductions after 45 years of contributions.
The Union wants a cabinet decision on pension reform this year, said Merz about the further timetable for the pension package. The first reading in the Bundestag should take place before the turn of the year and the final vote at the beginning of next year. “This is long overdue,” emphasized the Chancellor.
The parliamentary process was originally planned to be completed at the turn of the year, then last week Merz postponed the target until spring. At the beginning of the year he tightened the schedule a little again.
But the most important sentence for the Young Unionists was: “I want us to implement the pension commission’s reform proposals as they are on the table.” In doing so, Merz went against the wishes of the SPD, but also the three East German CDU prime ministers, for changes to the so-called pension at 63.
With regard to the reforms, Merz admitted: “They are stirring up the country, they are stirring up our party.” But only after its completion will there be more peace again. "But we have to take this path until then. This applies to changes in statutory health insurance, in care, in the labor market." Despite resistance, he wants to stick to the course: “Election results don’t change the need for change.”
Last year, Merz had a heated argument with the Junge Union about the pension at Germany Day. This time his performance was more harmonious. However, in the question and answer session after his almost hour-long speech, a delegate called on him to resign because his announcements were not followed by action. Merz ignored this in his answer and emphasized the importance of a stable government.
The applause after his speech was less than a minute long and the volume was rather poor. It was said among the delegates afterwards that it wasn't a big success, but at least it was a rapprochement with the JU after a deep disagreement from last year.
Merz received the most applause for his demarcation against the AfD and especially against the Left. He accused both parties of trivializing Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: "It is incomprehensible to me how one can turn a blind eye to it."
The Chancellor urgently warned the SPD and the Greens against collaborating with the Left in Berlin. “Anyone who wants to strengthen the political center must not have conversations with left-wing radicals,” he shouted. “Stop going down this path.”
He warned the members of his own party against acting as a stirrup holder for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. Anyone who does that “has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Germany’s CDU.”
Merz also had a message ready for SPD politician Manuela Schwesig. He clearly rejected your criticism of the Union's handling of the resigned Labor Minister Bärbel Bas. "Differences of opinion on the matter, yes. Discussions, yes, if absolutely necessary. But we do not accept this degradation," he said in response to Schwesig's accusation that the Union had behaved "inhumanely" towards Bas.
The Chancellor emphasized that the coalition partner would not put up with everything. "I will do everything to lead the country to success. But doing everything does not mean accepting everything," he said. This also includes confronting the coalition partner “if he describes our politics and our coexistence as inhumane without any apparent reason.”
Bas resigned after the death of her stepdaughter and complained about personal attacks, including from within the ranks of her coalition partner. In addition to Schwesig, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also commented. He described the Union’s behavior as “indecent”.
