The Union and FDP have rejected plans by the newly appointed Federal Minister of Labor, Bärbel Bas (SPD), to include civil servants, lawmakers and self-employed individuals in the pension insurance system. Alexander Hoffmann, the leader of the CSU parliamentary group, told “Bild am Sonntag” that, “Including self-employed individuals and civil servants in pensions does not solve the problems in the pension insurance system, nor is it covered by the coalition agreement. Ms. Bas should not try to impose old SPD ideas as the future outcome of the pension commission.”
Christoph Ahlhaus, the head of the BVMW, a business association, said in an interview with “Bild am Sonntag” “Ms. Bas’ proposal is populist nonsense that does not solve any pension problems in the long term. Self-employed individuals need relief, not forced membership in a financially troubled state pension. Economic turnaround is done differently. The Chancellor should make it clear from the beginning.”
Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy head of the FDP, also rejected the pension plan put forth by the SPD: “This would amount to a complete overhaul of the pension system. And this would not be possible without a change to the constitution. The pension plan is not financially sustainable” Kubicki stated. “What we need instead is a capital-backed pension system through a stock pension. Only then can the gap between fewer pension contributors and more pension recipients be closed.”
Sahra Wagenknecht, founder of the Basic Income Party (BSW), expressed sympathy for the SPD’s pension plan. She told “Bild am Sonntag” “The statutory pension system has been systematically underfunded over decades. We need a pension system in which everyone – including politicians, self-employed individuals and civil servants – contributes. Ms. Bas is right in making this demand, but it will unfortunately remain just empty promises. Such a system overhaul will not happen under a coalition of the color black and red.”
Wagenknecht also called on the new government to make a sacrifice in the pension system: “It would be an important sign if the political class takes the lead and, as a first step, the new lawmakers and ministers were required to contribute to the statutory pension system. This could be done immediately, no commission is needed and the results would not be available until St. Nimmerleinstag.