Cabinet decides on nursing reform and other political projects

According to a preliminary report, Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) does not expect a gas shortage in the winter despite the comparatively low filling levels.

"We can assume that the supply is guaranteed even for a cold winter. It is now important to fill the storage tanks so that even longer cold periods can be survived well," she told "Bild am Sonntag" in advance. There are also large LNG units on the coasts. Germany receives additional quantities through this.

Her most recent instruction to Sefe to feed in more gas is “by no means” an indication that she has underestimated the situation so far. The Handelsblatt reported about it. Read more about Reiche's arrangement here.

Brandenburg's CDU state leader Jan Redmann is calling on the federal government to speed up reforms because of the discontent among the grassroots.

“There is a lot of pressure at the moment, but it is also something that is currently on the home stretch,” Redmann told the German Press Agency. Several reform packages are in the Bundestag. The coalition must now prove “that it also has the strength to actually pass these reform packages”.

After three unsuccessful elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, criticism of Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz is growing among the Christian Democrats. The CDU presidium will meet on October 11th to discuss the consequences of the defeats. The federal government is planning reforms in, among other things, pensions, the labor market and care.

Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) fears nationwide losses in growth in a government led by the left in Berlin.

What the Left represents here in Berlin and the people they represent is not only dangerous for Berlin, but for our country.

“It is a danger for Germany as an investment location and as a business location.” Investors looked closely at whether Germany was serious about protecting property and freedom. She said, particularly with regard to the SPD and the Greens: “And that is why two other parties that the left would need to come to power must under no circumstances reach out to seize power here.”

Reiche said she grew up in the GDR: "I saw from my own experience how family businesses were run down after nationalization, after expropriation. Expropriation, socialism or even communism lead to impoverishment, impoverishment, totalitarianism."

In the election to the Berlin House of Representatives on September 20th, the Left was by far the strongest force.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt supports the idea of ​​new special asylum rules in crisis situations. There could be situations in which the use of asylum procedures is not necessary, said the CSU politician at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.

These could, for example, be situations in which people cross EU borders with the help of smugglers or as a result of disinformation campaigns. The aim is to use a crisis intervention mechanism to ensure that the “normal asylum procedures” do not take place. The European Union must be able to defend itself against abuse, said Dobrindt.

The Chancellery is stopping the draft law by Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) to introduce a sugar tax. The Handelsblatt learned this from government circles. It is said that the Health Finance Commission's proposal is the agreed basis for the introduction of a sugar tax. The proposal from the Ministry of Finance deviates from this and is not capable of gaining a majority in the government in this form.

The CDU politician Thomas Bareiß is leaving the Bundestag's budget committee. “Together with the parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei, I have decided to no longer be a member of the budget committee,” he told the German Press Agency. “Focus” and other media had previously reported.

The 51-year-old is said to have consumed synthetic narcotics and caused a serious accident in mid-July. The public prosecutor's office is investigating. At the beginning of August, Bareiß announced a break and party political consequences in a personal statement, and he also asked for an apology. He wants to leave his office as district chairman of the CDU Württemberg-Hohenzollern on hold and not stand for re-election.

At the start, the fuel discount caused fuel prices to fall sharply in many places. Petrol and diesel suddenly became cheaper around midnight. On the fuel price portal Tankerkönig, the Germany-wide average prices fell by around 10 to 11 cents between 11:41 p.m. and 12:41 a.m. This price difference also occurred early in the morning at the same time on Wednesday.

In many places, premium gasoline of the cheaper E10 variety was offered for less than 2 euros, as can be seen from the ADAC portal. However, there are regional differences here. There were many such offers in Munich, Stuttgart and Leipzig. There were numerous in Berlin, but only a few in Hamburg, and in Cologne there were no petrol stations listed for less than 2 euros in the morning. However, the nationwide average prices at Tankerkönig were well over 2 euros.

Since midnight, a tax reduction of 16.7 cents per liter has applied to gasoline and diesel leaving tank farms and refineries. How fully this will be passed on to consumers will become apparent in the next few days. There is no direct obligation for gas stations to lower prices. In addition, calculations are complex. Prices had already fallen on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The federal government has set sustainability goals in various areas. This should not only be about climate and environmental issues, but also, for example, about questions of social cohesion. By the end of 2029, important administrative services should be available digitally across the board and new data on loneliness among young people should be collected, as can be seen from the “Sustainability Action Plan” approved by the cabinet.

Plans to convert forests to better adapt to climate change should also be pursued. “The goal is to implement measures with concrete, measurable results by the end of the legislative period.” However, there is an important restriction: the projects should only be implemented if the necessary money can be found.

Economist Monika Schnitzer considers the federal government's plans for long-term care insurance to be inadequate. “The draft care reform that has now been presented goes in the right direction in some places, but is far from sufficient,” the chairwoman of the Economic Advisory Council told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday. “It solves neither the already tense financing situation of nursing care insurance in the short term nor the significantly larger structural problems of the coming years.”

Expenses are already rising faster than income, said Schnitzer. As the population ages, the number of people in need of care continues to increase, while relatively fewer contributors have to pay for its financing. “It is therefore difficult to understand why the fundamental structural questions should now be referred again to a commission,” criticized the government advisor.

According to her, the federal-state working group for the future care pact has presented a very specific reform package at the end of 2025 - from stronger prevention and rehabilitation to a more targeted design of benefit law. Particularly important is the working group's proposal to return to the threshold values ​​for the classification of care levels, which the expert advisory board had already recommended on a scientific basis in 2013.

In 2017, the political implementation of the new definition of need for care went well beyond the recommendations of the expert advisory board. “A significant proportion of the massive cost increase since 2017 can be attributed precisely to this expansion of services,” criticized Schnitzer.

The fundamental reorganization of the system is to be prepared by a commission that will present a draft by the end of January. “A draft that should make nursing fit for the 1930s,” said Linnemann.

His goal is for a corresponding law to come into force on July 1, 2027. The agreement in the cabinet was preceded by tough negotiations between the Union and the SPD. Both coalition partners are under pressure after defeats in the recent state elections.

The SPD in particular had pushed for reforms that did not just focus on savings at the expense of the insured.

However, according to the minister, savings are necessary in order to bring finances into balance. The assessment system should be changed and made more targeted. While the general contribution rate remains stable at 3.6 percent, the surcharge for childless people increases by 0.3 percentage points.

The contribution assessment limit will be raised by 300 euros, which is less than initially planned. There should be structural improvements under the motto “rehab before care”. In addition, insured persons aged 60 and over will in future be entitled to an early detection examination (“Check-up 60+”).

Care in acute nursing situations is to be improved; from 2028 there will also be acute short-term care places. A so-called social space budget of around 3,600 euros per year will be introduced for families with children in need of care.

Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) described the care reform approved by the cabinet as the “first important step towards stabilizing the care system”.

With the legislative package launched on Wednesday, an impending deficit of eight billion euros will be averted, nursing care will be secured and the general contribution rates will remain stable in the coming year, said Linnemann in Berlin.

However, fundamental and far-reaching changes will be shifted to an expert commission that is scheduled to begin its work in October. This creates reliability for those in need of care and their relatives at a time when the system is under massive financial pressure, said Linnemann.

The number of people requiring care has tripled to around six million in the past 20 years. The minister emphasized the importance of home care: “The people who need to be cared for at home, especially their relatives, support the system.”

That is why the originally considered reduction in pension insurance contributions for caring relatives is completely off the table.

Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) is threatening a possible AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt with legal action and the reclaim of federal funds in the event of drastic changes to education policy. “If the Basic Law is violated, such as the requirement of equal treatment, the federal government could intervene through constitutional lawsuits,” Prien told the Editorial Network Germany (RND).

The federal government also has financial leverage: "There are a number of federal programs to support the states in education. If a state does not adhere to the agreed purposes, the federal government can demand the funds back and, if in doubt, enforce this with lawsuits," emphasized the minister.

If an AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt were to stray too far from a basic consensus on education policy, it would risk that school qualifications would no longer be recognized in the rest of the country.

The Greens in the Bundestag are primarily calling for relief for families in the planned care reform. Families are already being put under immense strain elsewhere, said deputy parliamentary group leader Misbah Khan of the German Press Agency. “Whether in advance maintenance payments, parental allowance or family co-insurance: cuts are being made everywhere or cuts are planned.” This pattern must not be repeated in the care reform.

A main goal of the black-red coalition in their planned care reform is to prevent further increases in contributions, as care costs continue to rise. She also wants to make changes to services. Negotiations between the Union and the SPD over the austerity proposals, which were also controversial internally, dragged on late on Tuesday.

Families bear a significant part of the burden - in organizing care, supervision or the actual care, Khan continued. In their opinion, the reform should therefore bring improvements for those in need of care that are not financed by further burdens on relatives. “And in the interests of intergenerational justice, it must stabilize the system so that it continues to be viable for decades to come.”

Before the controversial care reform is due to be presented this Wednesday, criticism of the government's austerity plans is increasing. The German districts also turned against savings plans for home costs and supported SPD demands for a care cap. The federal government must not solve the financial problems of long-term care insurance at the expense of those in need of care and the districts, criticized the President of the district council, Achim Brötel (CDU). “That’s exactly what the current draft boils down to in key areas.”