Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) urged Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) to swiftly introduce the proposed pension reform bill and ensure it is passed by the Bundestag before the end of the year. Speaking to “Bild am Sonntag”, Reiche stated, “The Chancellor is absolutely right; this package must be decided upon by the end of the year.”
The CDU politician further commented on Bas’s awareness regarding the expectations, saying that Bas had not only supported the coalition decision prior to the summer but had actively negotiated it and commended the results presented by the pension commission.
Reiche acknowledged the resistance to abolishing the retirement age of 63 within the SPD leadership, expressing her confidence that “what we decided in the cabinet, and especially what the coalition put on the table after long, long negotiations, will be enacted.”
The Economics Minister warned Bas and the SPD against water-downing the recommendations put forward by the commission. Reiche cautioned that while they might debate whether exceptional cases exist, “diluting the plan, fundamentally removing structural elements, and subjecting them to debate, that cannot receive my approval.”
