Thorsten Frei, CDU chancellery chief, has defended the controversial federal government's pension package, deeming it approvable. He points to a planned pension commission that will develop proposals for long-term reform by summer 2026. Despite criticism from his own party, he shows understanding for concerns from young Union parliamentarians.
The pension package of the black-red coalition is facing resistance within the Union, particularly from the Young Group. Thorsten Frei (CDU) defended the plans in interviews with Focus and stern. "Especially because we will then discuss a broad reform in a pension commission," he told Focus. The commission is to present proposals for the long-term security of old-age provision by summer 2026.
Frei attributes the criticism partly to interpretable formulations in the coalition agreement. "One must say that the pension passage in the coalition agreement is interpretable: The arguments of the SPD and the Young Group are understandable," he explained to stern. The dispute centers on the so-called halt line, which fixes the pension level relative to wages at least 48 percent until 2031. Thereafter, it should serve as the starting point for further development, which the Young Union rejects.
For days, discussions have been ongoing about postponing the planned Bundestag vote in December, as 18 parliamentarians from the Young Group are resisting. Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) shares the arguments against the package but commits to the cabinet decision.
The Union employee group supports the government. Deputy head Kai Whittaker pointed out in Spiegel: "We did exactly this in 2018 in the last grand coalition." Additionally, a review for 2029 is planned.
Around 30 young SPD parliamentarians criticized the Young Union in a paper: "What the Young Group of the Union sells us under 'intergenerational justice' is actually label fraud." Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) defends the draft and plans to establish the pension commission this year. "The commission will be staffed so that those who see this critically now are also involved," he said in the ARD program Report from Berlin.