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Chancellor doesn’t want to save on pensioners – FDP with demands
Olaf Scholz doesn’t think much of a higher retirement age. photo
© Carsten Koall/dpa
The federal government is facing difficult discussions on the 2025 budget. Chancellor Scholz says where, in his opinion, no red pencil should be applied. And the FDP formulates its demands.
FDP aims at retirement age
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr had campaigned for a flexible retirement age and was criticized for his comments about working at the age of 72. At the weekend, various FDP politicians once again formulated their demands in the “Bild am Sonntag”: The pension expert for the FDP parliamentary group, Pascal Kober, spoke out in favor of restricting the so-called pension at the age of 63. “It’s very expensive and hurts the job market,” he said. “This must now be incorporated into the parliamentary discussions on pension package II.” Pension costs would have to come down.
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told “Bild am Sonntag” that retirement at 63 would take valuable skilled workers away from the labor market. Anyone who wants to work longer should be able to do so “under attractive conditions”. FDP financial expert Max Mordhorst said: “It is conceivable, for example, that in the future a pension at 63 will only be possible for low earners.” In the medium term it will have to go away completely.
“Pension at 63” was the name given to the pension without deductions after 45 years of insurance, since initially people born before 1953 were able to retire at the age of 63 without deductions. The age limit for this is now 64 years and 4 months for those born in 1960. For those born later, the entry age will increase to 65 by 2029.
Pension package under scrutiny
On Tuesday it became known that the traffic light coalition was postponing the decision on its planned pension package. The pension package, which was actually already negotiated by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), is intended to guarantee a pension level of 48 percent by 2039. This costs additional money, so the contribution rate will increase. This increase is to be slowed down by a debt-financed investment worth billions on the capital market. The income will be used to pay annual subsidies to the pension insurance from the mid-2030s. The FDP clearly criticized the plans at its party conference at the end of April and called for further reforms.
Against this background, Scholz emphasized: “It is very clear to me that one thing is important for our country, namely that we do not question social cohesion.” The Chancellor hopes that the 2025 budget will be in place by July. “The budget will keep us busy now,” said Scholz. “I think it’s clear that the budget will be finalized at the beginning of July.” However, the traffic light coalition is facing difficult negotiations: Finance Minister Lindner has called on the ministries to make savings, and several departments are resisting cuts. Scholz spoke of a major task. He did not say where he thought savings should be made. But he pointed out: “We are definitely spending more money than before.”
FDP presents five-point paper on budget policy
In a five-point paper, the FDP calls for a “generationally fair budget policy”. This must comply with the debt limit of the Basic Law and must not overburden young people when financing pensions, says the paper, which is to be decided by the party’s executive board this Monday. The draft is available to the dpa in Berlin. “The economic turnaround must also be reflected in the state’s budget policy,” it says. “We cannot overburden the state budget with more and more social spending and further limit the scope for action.”
The Liberals emphasize in the paper that earning comes before spending. The federal budget must be a relief budget that strengthens companies and skilled workers and enables them to create new prosperity. “If we don’t succeed in this, we can no longer be one of the largest donors internationally, for example in development aid.” The social systems need to be reformed. The pension at 63 and the citizen’s benefit in its current form create false incentives that Germany cannot afford. Corrections are also necessary to the statutory pension system.