JU chairman calls pension package "not yet fit for grandchildren"

Berlin – Resistance is growing within the CDU against the pension package approved by the federal cabinet in August. Johannes Winkel, chairman of the Junge Union (JU), criticized the federal government's draft bill in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" as "unfit for future generations" and called for fundamental adjustments to the parliamentary process. "When I see that the draft bill on the so-called pension level maintenance line even goes beyond the coalition agreement, I have to say that this will be a very, very difficult debate," he warned. Winkel also expressed reservations about increasing the mother's pension, a CSU demand. According to the draft bill, the so-called maintenance line is intended to temporarily eliminate the sustainability factor in the pension formula until 2031, so that pensions can increase more rapidly. Previously, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU), and Pascal Reddig, chairman of the Young Union Group in the Bundestag, had already raised objections to the elimination of the sustainability factor. JU leader Winkel did not question that the coalition agreement provided for such an intervention in the pension formula. However, he insisted that the agreement contained a second point: The sustainability factor must be fully effective again from 2032 onwards, "to the extent that it would have been if we had retained current law," he said. The government's draft legislation stipulates that further pension increases after 2031 should be based on the then-increased level. However, he emphasized that the crucial point is that "this temporary rule change does not lead to permanently higher pension expenditures," Winkel said. His demand amounts to offsetting the additional pension increases accruing up to 2031 against subsequent increases. Regarding the mothers' pension advocated by the CSU, Winkel regretted that the CDU/CSU had "effectively given up a negotiating lever" to the SPD. This meant that the CDU/CSU had not been able to convincingly advocate for limiting social spending in the coalition negotiations. However, given the gaps in the federal budget for the coming years, all spending proposals now need to be re-examined, he warned. "Therefore, all three partners must now ask themselves what parts of the coalition agreement are still financially responsible."