Before the appearance of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Germany Day Men’s Association
(JU), Bavarian JU boss Manuel Knoll has asked the CDU chief for support in the pension dispute. “I hope Friedrich Merz will side with Junge Union on this issue,” Knoll said General Augsburg. Whether there will be “open conflict” on Germany Day depends on “how clear the Chancellor’s commitment to intergenerational justice is.”
Merz is performing this Saturday at the three-day German Day at Junge Union. This raises clear doubts about the black-red coalition’s retirement plans. On the one hand, the CSU’s promised expansion of maternal pension funds has drawn criticism. On the other hand, JU criticized the guaranteed pension level after 2031 planned by Federal Minister of Social Affairs Bärbel Bas (SPD).
A majority in parliament could be missed
“This is not covered by the coalition agreement and is a heavy burden on future generations,” Knoll said. “As a Young Union, we cannot stand idly by.”
In the Bundestag, 18 young members of the CDU and CSU have announced that they will block the pension program in the Bundestag if necessary. Then the Union and the SPD would lack the necessary majority in parliament. However, the head of Bavaria’s JU appears willing to compromise: “We don’t want to blow up the government.”
CDU Vice President Michael Kretschmer sided with the party’s young talents. Criticism of young Union politicians is justified, said the head of government of the Funke media group in Saxony. “Current pension policies add to the problem.”
