Speaking to business leaders in Berlin on Tuesday, Friedrich Merz said, "We really need a big reform," and laid out his plan to keep the pension bill moving this year. He said he would direct Alexander Schweitzer to present an updated plan to both the cabinet and parliament before the year ends, aiming to secure approval in 2027.
Merz noted that "We now have a new minister in office who will be responsible for this from this afternoon," adding, "I would like to encourage him to get to work quickly." He spelled out the marching orders for the new SPD labor minister: deliver legislation "to the cabinet as soon as possible." If that happens this year, he said, "then he has done his job."
He also struck a confident note on timing: "I am confident that we will definitely have it in force by next year."
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During that time, Social Democrats said Merz's Christian Democrats treated Bas unfairly, a charge Merz rejected while saying his disagreements with her were strictly on substance.
Bas never found favor with many in business. Last year, employers reportedly laughed during a speech in which she argued that extra budget transfers into the pension system would not mean additional costs for employers.
Schweitzer, 53, previously led the SPD at the state level in Rhineland Palatinate and is scheduled to take the oath as labor minister on Tuesday afternoon. He has previously criticized the government's plan to scrap the option of retiring early after 45 years of work.
Merz used the pension push to assert he's staying the course despite friction in his government, internal party resistance, and soft polling. "I'm right in the middle of this conflict," he said.
For savers and retirees, the immediate signposts are straightforward: whether Schweitzer can file an updated plan with the cabinet and parliament before the end of the year, how the draft addresses the option to retire early after 45 years of work, and whether Merz's claim that changes "in force by next year" stands up next to the 2027 approval objective. Those milestones will tell you how fast the rules around work, retirement age, and pension funding might actually change.
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