Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) opposes calls from three CDU state premiers in eastern Germany to retain the controversial early retirement option without reductions. “Deliberately sending employees into early retirement programs—and having the government support that—is not a good idea,” Reiche said in response to a question on the matter following a company visit in Zielitz, Saxony-Anhalt. “Overall, we need people to work longer throughout their lives in order to become competitive again.”
Among other things, the government’s Pension Commission had recommended abolishing the option of retiring without pension reductions for individuals with particularly long insurance histories—specifically, those with 45 or more years of insurance coverage—who previously could retire at age 63 but now must wait until age 64.5. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) intend to enact the commission’s proposals into law without any compromises before the end of this year, as they had announced.
