Merz calls on the coalition to stick together on social reforms

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on his coalition to stick together in view of the repeated tug-of-war over planned social reforms. In Kiev, the CDU politician said yesterday evening on the ARD program "Report from Berlin": "We have to stay together in the government. We have to move the country forward. We have to use the great opportunities we have together. And I am determined to do that."

He particularly called on his coalition of the Union and the SPD to make progress with the reforms of the social systems and to make the necessary decisions by the end of the year, especially for statutory pension insurance: "And the proposals are on the table as well developed as we have not had in Germany in the last 30 years. I very much hope that we will be able to implement them in this way," he said. The SPD recently expressed criticism about the planned abolition of the early pension without deductions after 45 years of contributions.

Merz had already made it clear in Kiev on Sunday: "Perhaps it is not sufficiently clear to some people at home what it would mean if the federal government were no longer up to its tasks. That would have immeasurable consequences for all of Europe. In this respect, I will do everything I can to continue to lead the government in Germany in a stable manner." This applies equally to foreign, domestic and economic policy.

Merz came under massive pressure within his own party after the election debacle in Saxony-Anhalt four weeks ago. The AfD won the state elections by a significant margin over the CDU. On September 20th, the CDU was thrown out of the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and was pushed out of first place in parliament in Berlin by the Left.

That's not all: In an Insa survey published on Saturday, the AfD reached the 30 percent mark nationwide for the first time - the Union is at 18 percent. At the same time, Merz's values ​​are also low: only one in ten was satisfied or very satisfied with the CDU politician's work in last week's ARD "Germany Trend".

There is a problem with reform projects in the coalition: The cabinet passed a bill to stabilize long-term care insurance after the Union and the SPD had fought over the content until the very end. SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch said on the ZDF program "Berlin Direkt": "It's part of it that we argue about the best way forward. But I'm very sure that we will now be able to overcome these challenges in this grand coalition."

Nevertheless, it was good that an “orgy of cuts” in long-term care insurance was prevented, the SPD parliamentary group leader continued. In the coming discussions, his party will now focus on structural changes and also more justice, such as financial equalization between private and social care insurance.

At the same time, Union politicians are insisting that Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) quickly submit a draft law on the planned pension reform. Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) told “Bild am Sonntag” with a view to the resistance in the SPD leadership against the abolition of the “pension at 63” that she trusts “that we will carry through what we have decided in the cabinet and, above all, what the coalition has put on the table in long, long negotiations”.