Ines Schwerdtner, the chair of the Left party, described the European Commission’s recommendations for a social‑state reform as a further “attack on the social state”. She quoted the “Rheinische Post”, saying that Bärbel Bas, in her proposal, reaches more people than the Hartz IV system ever did and that it threatens a massive broadening of social devaluation.
The Left criticises mainly the idea that benefits such as the child supplement and housing benefit would be merged into a single social‑benefit system. Schwerdtner noted that hundreds of thousands of households receiving the child supplement-almost 600,000 families with more than 1.5 million children-along with over a million housing‑benefit households would be pushed back into job centers or social offices. This, she warned, would bring more than two million people into basic security benefits. She said the reform would lead to a noticeable deterioration for many residents in the state, noting how ashamed people often feel when forced to visit an office, and that the reform would force millions into that humiliating situation.
Conversely, Felix Banaszak, the leader of the Greens, welcomed the Commission’s suggestions for reforming social benefits and pledged the coalition’s willingness to discuss a possible amendment to the Basic Law. Banaszak said the social state urgently needs an update; many structures are inefficient and waste time and money that should reach those in need instead of getting lost in administration.
He argued that the Commission’s recommendations are the right direction, bringing forward long‑held Green priorities such as merging Bürgergeld with the child supplement and housing benefit, reducing bureaucratic hurdles, and digitizing the administration. Banaszak emphasized that the proposals should not end up in a drawer and that he hopes the federal government will have the will to “drill through the thick boards”. He urged that the social state become simpler, faster, and more understandable without compromising social security. He also acknowledged that reform and restructuring of institutions would likely require changes to the Basic Law, and that the Greens are ready to enter constructive dialogue on that basis.
