He fell like a thunderbolt. The Youth Union (JUNGE UNION) from the KO of the co-ruling Christian Democrats/Christian Socialists is resisting the coalition government’s multi-billion euro draft law, which is scheduled to be approved by the body by the end of the year and implemented from next year.
Reason for disagreement? The draft law by Minister Berbel Bass from the Social Democratic Party foresees the stabilization of the pension amount at 48% until 2031, but does not foresee what will happen after 2031.
Permanent burden of billions on the shoulders of the youth
According to the group’s resolution, between 2031 and 2040 additional costs of 114 billion euros will accumulate, which will continue to accumulate after 2040, placing a permanent burden of billions on the shoulders of the younger generation. “It is unacceptable,” said Pascal Redig, vice-president of the JU, to SPIEGEL.
Konrad Koerner, number two in the Youth Group, speaking to SPIEGEL reminded that the Pensions Commission was set up to make social systems future-proof and that simply adding €115 billion through the back door is not enough.
Not inconsiderable progress
The Youth Group is an association of young MPs from the two conservative parties whose statutory aim is to represent the interests of the younger generation within party structures. It consists of 18 members, all elected MPs under the age of 35 on the date of the election.
The gravity of their journey is not at all negligible. The CDU/CDU and SPD coalition government has 328 votes in Parliament, twelve more than needed to reach an absolute majority.
Which means the new coalition MPs could block the bill, which after Mertz’s episodic vote in the House and the failure to elect judges to the Federal Constitutional Court, would be another rout. For better or worse, they also sent a warning to the chancellor not to think about putting the burden on the next generations because the young are a minority.
But will things go that far? Understanding messages have already been recorded. “I am not happy that some government MPs consider the bill unacceptable, but I understand the criticism of the Youth Group,” said Steffen Bilger, secretary of the CDU/CDU Co-op. And he suggests returning the bill for renegotiations to the Pensions Committee.
