This model means that a government does not have a majority in parliament and must seek additional votes from the opposition for every decision. If a minority government comes from the EU, the Greens, Left and AfD will remain in opposition alongside the SPD. Since the EU has firmly ruled out cooperation with the AfD and the Left Party, only two potential cooperation partners remain, namely the SPD and the Green Party.
The Junge Union has expressed its opposition to the proposed pension package, which Merz was unable to overcome at the German Day organized by the youth organization. In essence, the debate is about what is called the pension holding line, namely the level of pension security in relation to wages. In a coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU and SPD agreed to extend the pension rate cap of 48 percent until 2031.
At the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” economic summit, Merz also stressed that reforms in the fields of pensions, nursing services and health insurance were “inevitable” and the government would also address this. “Our pension system is also being tested,” said the Chancellor. To achieve this goal, an agreement has been reached with the SPD to “restructure the entire pension system”, which, in addition to statutory pensions, also includes corporate and private pension schemes. “The form will be discussed in the coming months,” he announced.
In addition, the Chancellor expressed Germany’s willingness to compromise to complete the EU Capital Markets Union. “I am also ready to make broad concessions here if we achieve progress together,” Merz said and praised cooperation with the SPD’s coalition partners. “I am very grateful that we were able to agree on this with the Social Democratic Party. Lars Klingbeil is heading towards European capital markets,” said the CDU chairman. The EU must immediately complete its Capital Markets Union.
But people also need to change their attitudes, Merz said. Germans save money wrong. “There are more than two trillion euros in German savings accounts and deposits that do not earn interest. Germans are very afraid of the capital markets,” Merz said. This also causes not much money to flow to start-up companies in Europe, but they want to keep it in Europe. Therefore, the government wants to ensure that money in Germany is invested in the right places and that this also results in reasonable pension provisions.
