Germany’s new Labour Minister, Alexander Schweitzer of the SPD, wants a deal in the fight over penalty-free retirement after 45 years of contributions, popularly known as “retirement at 63”. “I am confident we will manage it,” he told the newspaper Rheinpfalz (as of 17 October). This, he said, is “exactly one of the issues where we have to sit down and find a good compromise”.
The remark is sensitive because it cuts across the chancellor. On 23 June the pensions commission presented 33 recommendations, among them scrapping this early exit. Friedrich Merz (CDU) said he would implement them in full, and Bärbel Bas (SPD) called the package a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. Schweitzer’s reply: “Commission proposals are commission proposals are commission proposals”; the decisions, he said, belong to the government and the Bundestag. The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD in fact says the rule should in principle stay.
Who wants what, and who is wavering?
Bas resigned as minister and SPD leader on Monday 12 October; Schweitzer was sworn in two days later. He had already come out against abolition in August. Merz, according to reports, is sticking to it. Against the plan stand also three East German CDU state premiers, Sven Schulze, Michael Kretschmer and Mario Voigt. SPD parliamentary leader Matthias Miersch wants the parliamentary groups, and possibly the states, more involved before cabinet decides. Bas herself floated legitimate-expectation protection and a transition of around five years in September, but nothing is binding.
The package is fraying elsewhere too: CSU leader Markus Söder said of the planned curbs on mini-jobs that they would stay. Commission co-chair Frank-Jürgen Weise warned in June that the proposals were meant as a whole and that anyone changing them must make sure it is “better than the draft”. Every exception, in other words, costs money that the rest of the reform then lacks.
What applies today, and what is only planned
Under current law, people with 45 insurance years can retire without deductions; for those born in 1964 or later the threshold age is 65, and the standard retirement age is 67. The commission wants to abolish this route, raise the earliest age (35 years, with deductions) from 63 to 64, and tie the standard age after 2031 to life expectancy, which on current data would mean about six extra months by 2041, or 67.5. These are recommendations, not law.
Timelines differ. In July the government spoke of finishing the process by the end of 2026; Merz now targets a cabinet decision by Christmas, with Bundestag and Bundesrat deciding in 2027, ideally by spring. The labour ministry announced a draft for the autumn on 9 October, but none has been published: Rhineland-Palatinate premier Gordon Schnieder (CDU) said the draft “was never presented by Bärbel Bas”.
Our assessment, with limited confidence: outright abolition looks less likely after this week. A middle path seems more plausible, either long transition periods for people close to retirement or tighter conditions instead of a full end. Anyone planning to retire in the coming years after 45 contribution years can currently plan under existing rules; individual advice is available free from the German pension insurance on 0800 1000 4800.
Sources: t-online/dpa, Bundesregierung, MS Aktuell, kununu News, ZDFheute
