During a dispute over social reforms, Junge Union leader Johannes Winkel urged his party’s leadership to negotiate with the SPD in a more confrontational manner.

“”The CDU must take off its velvet gloves”” the Bundestag member told Focus. “I expect the party leadership to negotiate hard with the SPD and demand clear reforms that promote intergenerational justice”. He added, “”We must now set the course to tackle demographic change””.

Winkel further insisted that the SPD must acknowledge the looming demographic shift. “Already today it is foreseeable that if we do not act decisively, the 2030s will present our state finances with unsolvable challenges” he warned. “With fewer and fewer workers supporting a growing pension base, the status quo simply won’t work without reforms”.