Despite contentious statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the CDU, the federal government intends to stick to the existing timeline for the pension commission. A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Labour told the dts news agency on Wednesday that the government expects the commission’s results by the end of June, suggesting that political action will follow from those findings.
Merz had stated at the annual event of the Federal Association of German Banks (BdB) that the statutory pension insurance would only serve as a basic safeguard in the future. However, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius clarified to the dts news agency that this statement should not be interpreted as setting a framework for the pension commission. Kornelius noted, “It is a single sentence and therefore not a framework, nor does it predetermine any result”.
The chancellor’s remarks have generated significant controversy, drawing criticism from the opposition, the coalition partner SPD, and even from within the CDU itself.