Gordon Schnieder, the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, has asked Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow CDU member, to assess the true financial costs of retaining the early retirement scheme-the “Rente mit 63”-before deciding on its abolition. Speaking to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Schnieder clarified that he is not fundamentally questioning the removal of the benefit for early retirement without deductions, but rather stresses, “We should discuss the details again.”
He urged the coalition to examine how many people currently have earning biographies characterized by a very early start in their professional lives and who would benefit from the early pension without penalties. Schnieder noted that today there are hardly any young people starting work at ages 14 or 15 and fulfilling 45 contribution years significantly before the official retirement age. He said such profiles were more common in the past and that “this will grow out of itself in the coming years, because nobody starts so early today.”
The Minister-President emphasized the importance of signaling to citizens: “We see their situation, and we will talk about it.” However, he also wished for the coalition to handle this matter privately, rather than allowing public conflict. “Political debate is acceptable, but behind closed doors-that is how we operate in Rhineland-Palatinate.”
