Alterssicherung: Koalitions-Fraktionschefs für Rentenreform – aber unterschiedliche Zeitvorstellungen

In the red-green coalition, disagreements persist about the implementation of the agreed-upon pension reform. CDU/CSU and SPD faction leaders Thorsten Frei and Matthias Miersch affirmed on Sunday night in the ARD that they would pass the pension reform. However, they displayed clear differences in their timelines and possible changes.

Frei demanded a draft bill from the Labor Ministry to discuss details, including the disputed no-contribution pension after 45 years of contributions. The CDU politician suggested differentiating between 45 years of work and fewer years with additional accrual periods without pension insurance payments. While these points could be discussed when incorporating recommendations into a draft law, Frei insisted on speed.

SPD faction leader Miersch, on the other hand, was unwilling to set a specific timeline and called for an onboarding period for the new Labor Minister, Alexander Schweitzer (SPD). Both Frei and Miersch agreed with the SPD ministers Manuela Schwesig (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) and Anke Rehlinger (Saarland) that they wanted a major pension reform, but they disagreed that the no-contribution pension after 45 years of contributions was justifiable.

Miersch cited three CDU ministers of the presidency in the East who shared this view, arguing that binding the reform with a "clawback" approach would have resulted in a loss of ten billion euros. Miersch doubted expert estimates that maintaining the no-contribution pension after 45 years of contributions would cost ten billion euros and concluded that everything would work out with the coalition's support.