Pension reform: Employers criticize resistance to ending retirement at 63

German employers are sharply criticizing the resistance to planned pension reforms that include ending the option of retiring at 63 without deductions. Steffen Kampeter, chief executive of the Federation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), expressed his dismay at the opposition, calling it "incomprehensible" that key elements of the reform are being questioned before implementation.

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So you squander perhaps the last chance to make pensions demographically sustainable.

"So you squander perhaps the last chance to make pensions demographically sustainable," Kampeter stated, emphasizing the urgency of reforming the social welfare system to maintain Germany's competitiveness and secure jobs. He argued that clinging to the retirement-at-63 option disregards critical issues like the shortage of skilled workers, demographic shifts, and the current economic situation.

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That central elements of the pension package are being questioned again before they have even been implemented, makes me speechless.

The proposed reform's core element is abolishing the penalty-free early retirement after 45 contribution years, currently accessible around age 64.5 but commonly known as the "Rente mit 63." A commission had presented a comprehensive plan with 33 interconnected measures, which Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas had supported for full implementation.

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Whoever wants to keep jobs in Germany and secure the competitiveness of the location must reform the social state. Whoever simultaneously sticks to the pension at 63 ignores the shortage of skilled workers, demographic change and the economic situation.

However, several state premiers, particularly from eastern Germany and some from the SPD, are mobilizing against the reform. They argue that their regions have a high number of long-term contributors eligible for early retirement. Jörg Rocholl, a member of the pension commission, countered this, stating that maintaining penalty-free early retirement is not in the interest of eastern Germany and that the opposition's stance is "completely wrong."

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The veto of the East German state premiers on the pension at 63 is completely wrong. If the East German state premiers really mean it, then they should not be against the abolition of the pension at 63.