November 19, 2025
SPD’s Bärbel Bas warns of “unsettled” coalition over pension agreement
Social Democratic Party (SPD) co-leader and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas has warned that “things will become unsettled” within the country’s coalition government if parliament failed to pass a pension reform package in December.
The crux of the issue is a guaranteed pension level of 48% of average income until 2031, which the SPD is standing firm on.
Bas was quizzed at an economic conference in Berlin as to whether she foresaw any possible changes to the bill in its current form.
“No, it has been firmly agreed.”
Bas also rejected any possible amendments to the bill as it made its way through the parliamentary process, arguing that there had already been “firm agreement” with the conservative CDU/CSU bloc on six key elements of the pension package.
“If anyone is jeopardizing the coalition, it is the CDU/CSU,” she said, referring to senior coalition partners the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.
Regarding the planned parliamentary vote on the matter in December, Bas said: “If this doesn’t succeed now, then we won’t have any reform at all.”
“If this vote doesn’t succeed now, then things will become unsettled,” she added. “It’s already unsettled. Let’s not delude ourselves.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merzresponded to concerns that the dispute over pensions could result in the collapse of his government when he appeared at the same event held by the Süddeutsche newspaper on Monday.
“In my view, it is out of the question to do such a thing,” the chancellor said before asking, “Does anyone seriously believe that we could work in this German Bundestag with changing majorities and still do reasonable legislative work?”
