Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (CDU) welcomed the commission’s proposals for reforming the social state.
“I heard about them only in broad strokes, but they exceed my expectations because they represent a fundamental structural overhaul of the social security system” Merz said on Tuesday at the “Welt” economic summit in Berlin.
The core of the plan, according to Merz, is a shift of responsibilities to two main actors. Job centres will take charge of all people who are able to work, while social offices will serve those who are unable to work. “There the benefits will be bundled, digitised, and reorganised in a new order” he explained at the conference.
Merz emphasized that this is first and foremost a structural reform and does not automatically mean the level of benefits will be reduced. The federal government will address the actual benefit levels once the further reform commission completes its work, expected by the end of the first half of 2026.
Jusos chairman Philipp Türmer, meanwhile, insists that the commission’s proposals must not lead to cuts in the social sector. “The level of social protection must not fall” Türmer told the “Rheinische Post”. “In particular changes to transfer deduction rates must be scrutinised carefully. It is correct to better organise compulsory social insurance work, but people-especially those who cannot work more than a minijob, such as single parents-must not be disadvantaged”.
Overall Türmer finds the proposals sensible. “Bundling benefits and automating payments reduces paperwork and provides tangible relief for many” he said. “Right now too many people do not receive the benefits they are entitled to because the application process is too complicated”.
The commission’s report contains 26 recommendations across 50 pages. Representatives from the federal government, the individual states and municipal associations propose ways to make the application and approval of social benefits more efficient, simpler and digitally oriented.