Wüst criticizes the federal government's pace of reform and calls for a pension solution

North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) reiterates his criticism of the federal government's pace of reform. In his opinion, the debate about pension reform has damaged the CDU. “It wasn’t good for the election campaigns that there was no draft law,” Wüst told Deutschlandfunk. “We have become a bit of a standing target in the last few months. That's why I would like to have a solution," said the NRW Prime Minister.

For Wüst it is clear that as people get older, they also have to work longer. In his opinion, there should only be exceptions to a pension without deductions after 45 years of contributions for people with physical and psychological problems. He is surprised that three months after the Pension Commission presented its results, there is still no draft law from the department of Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD).

In general, Wüst criticizes the pace of reform at the federal level: “A few projects now have to be started, completed and brought to the finish line, which in my opinion have been delayed for too long.” Wüst rejected speculation about a move to Berlin. “The situation requires a stable federal government. Nothing would be more wrong than to believe that we'll just replace the government and then everything will be over. That would be a bogus answer. It goes deeper than that,” said the CDU politician, who leads a black-green state government in Düsseldorf.

There are state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in spring 2027. “It is a five-year election period. I'm running for five years. I have no other plans."