SPD politician Klose calls for a long transition period when leaving pension at 63

"In pension matters, this usually meant five years," Klose told the newspapers that belong to the Funke media group. "A correspondingly long transition period would also be necessary here." Klose's word is not only important because she herself was a member of the pension commission. She is also considered a representative of the left wing of the SPD in the Bundestag parliamentary group.

The end of early retirement is still open

The abolition of the early pension without deductions for “those who have been insured for a particularly long time” – for whom the term “pension at 63” has become commonplace, even if, according to this regulation, retirement is currently only possible after 64.5 years – is one of the cornerstones of the pension commission's reform concept. The regulation has been criticized because it is not very targeted: it currently affects an above-average number of higher earners.

However, the Pension Commission had not proposed a precise timetable for abolition. Their report states rather generally that the regulation should be abolished “as soon as possible.”

Klose also said that partial retirement contracts that have already been concluded must also be taken into account, as these have terms of up to ten years. “Accordingly, a design with long transition periods makes sense and is necessary.”

The Eastern Prime Minister's turning maneuver

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) had spoken out in favor of completely implementing the Commission's pension concept. At first he received a lot of support for this. This initially included the three East German CDU prime ministers, who are now opposed to the abolition of the “pension at 63”.

This is also notable because Saxony's head of government, Michael Kretschmer, was vehemently calling for an end to early retirement last winter.