Merz tells employers he has 'no intention of becoming the nation's darling'
The chancellor called for a major pension overhaul, including an end to penalty-free retirement after 45 years, and urged new labor minister Schweitzer to move fast.
Archive image · Photo: European Union / Wikimedia Commons, Attribution (cropped and resized)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday stood by his contested reform agenda, telling the annual employers' conference in Berlin that the pay-as-you-go pension system has "no future in an ageing society." Minor fixes were no longer enough, he said: "We need, and I want, a major reform." That includes a capital-funded component in the statutory pension, an idea he said Germany had come to "at least thirty years too late."
Merz explicitly defended the planned end of penalty-free early retirement after 45 years of contributions, which the Social Democrats want to revisit. The pension commission delivered its recommendations in June but there is still no draft law, which he said was "already too long" for him. He wants the cabinet to approve the reform this year and said he would encourage incoming labor minister Alexander Schweitzer "to get to work quickly and present the laws."
Asked about the conflict over unpopular reforms, Merz said: "I am right in the middle of this conflict," adding: "I have no intention of becoming the nation's darling." "I want us to succeed together in this country," he said. Employers' federation president Rainer Dulger earlier urged faster action, telling coalition leaders: "Lead. Take responsibility."