Pension: New Union parliamentary group deputy Johannes Winkel calls for pension reform without deductions
The "pension rebel" wants to implement pension reform - and abolish the pension at 63. He sees the measures as a countermeasure to the loss of trust in the government and his party.
Berlin - The Union faction in the Bundestag has chosen Johannes Winkel, a 34-year-old head of the Jungen Union, as one of their deputy chairpersons. He takes on the areas of work and social affairs, the faction announced. Winkel succeeds Carsten Linnemann, who became Health Minister. In 2025, Winkel was one of the so-called "Union internal pension rebels" who opposed the coalition's pension law at the time, as it further increased expenditures at the expense of younger generations.
His election shows the faction's commitment to the planned pension reform, "We have now the historic chance to make the pension insurance system fit for the future," Winkel said on ZDF in the evening. "If you tie the package now, there is a very high risk that the entire package may not come about, and no one should have an interest in that."
Previous governments had ignored demographic change for 20 years. "Now he attacks the labor market, and that's why this pension package must come through as decided," he said.
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