German coalition passes disputed pension package, ending rift

BERLIN — German lawmakers passed a much-debated pension package through parliament on Friday, ending an internal dispute that had threatened to undermine Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition government mere months after taking office.

The vote came after a group of 18 young conservative lawmakers threatened to block the package, arguing current pension benefits are unsustainable. Merz’s relatively weak coalition, consisting of his conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), only has a narrow majority of 12 lawmakers, making it vulnerable to even modest defections in the ranks.

Ultimately, most of the young conservatives supported the legislation to avoid weakening Merz’s coalition government. In order to win their backing, Merz had pledged to undertake a more sweeping reform of the pension system as early as next year.

“This is not the end of our pension policy,” Merz said in a statement after the vote. “It’s only the beginning.”

Earlier this week, Germany’s far-left Die Linke (The Left) party announced its lawmakers would abstain from the vote, effectively ensuring its passage by reducing the overall number of votes needed to pass the pension legislation.

Still, Merz continued to try to secure the support of young conservatives in order to avoid the politically damaging impression that his coalition was dependent on indirect far-left support to get the package over the line.

Ultimately, only seven members of Merz’s conservative bloc voted against the package, giving the conservative leader a so-called chancellor’s majority.

Still, the harder task of more comprehensive pension reform as early as next year now looms over the coalition government. Merz will have to balance the demands of his center-left coalition partners in the SPD to maintain many benefits with young conservatives who believe current benefit levels cannot be sustained.