German parliament approves pension package after a rebellion in Merz's
party
[December 06, 2025] By
GEIR MOULSON
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's parliament on Friday approved a pension reform
package that had prompted a rebellion in the ranks of Chancellor
Friedrich Merz's party, averting a crisis for the government after a
bumpy first seven months in office.
Lawmakers in the lower house voted 318-224 in favor of the package,
including a measure that would hold the level of state pensions at 48%
of average wages until 2031. There were 53 abstentions.
A group of 18 young lawmakers in Merz’s center-right Union bloc — a
larger number than his coalition’s parliamentary majority — had balked
for weeks at a provision that said after 2031, the pension level would
be slightly higher than it would be under current law. They argued that
that would cost up to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion) per year, and
that this would come at the expense of young people.
Merz’s junior coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats, were
adamant that the package be approved unchanged. Merz backed that.
The measure to maintain the value of pensions was part of a package
which also contains changes sought by Merz’s conservative bloc,
including a tax break that would make it easier for retirees to continue
working.
In an effort to assuage dissenters, coalition leaders stressed that a
commission will produce proposals for a further-reaching reform of the
pension system by mid-2026 as Germany, like many other countries,
addresses the challenge of an aging population.
“This is not the end of our pension policy, but only the beginning,”
Merz said after the vote. He said the discussion had shown “how big the
challenges are that our country faces.”
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, and Vice Chancellor Lars
Klingbeil attend a meeting about a pension package in the German
Parliament in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec.5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim
Noroozi)
 Keen to show that he is in command
of the government's parliamentary majority, Merz pushed for approval
by an absolute majority of the house's 630 lawmakers, which wasn't
strictly necessary. Friday's result saved him from the potential
embarrassment of getting the measures passed thanks only to
abstentions by the opposition Left Party. In the end, seven of his
bloc's lawmakers voted against, two abstained and one didn't vote.
Merz set out to avoid the infighting that plagued predecessor Olaf
Scholz’s government and resulted in its collapse last year. However,
he needed an unprecedented two rounds of voting in parliament to get
elected as chancellor in May. There was also a high-profile
altercation in his own ranks in July over a center-left nominee for
Germany’s highest court, who ultimately withdrew her candidacy.
He has acknowledged that his coalition has engaged in “too many
public discussions” since it took office, with priorities that
included revitalizing Germany’s stagnant economy and reducing
irregular migration. Germans appear unimpressed with him and his
government, while support for the far-right Alternative for Germany
has grown since the country’s election in February.
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