Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), looks at the presentation of a coalition agreement between 3 parties on 9 April 2025 in Berlin, Germany.© Getty Images
The future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted that many citizens could see their net earnings falling during his government word due to rising social safety contributions and uncertain taxation incentives.
In an interview with the tabloid Bild on Sunday, Merz referred to concerns that rising costs in German pension, wellness and long-term care systems outweigh reforms and absorb household income."Unfortunately, this is precisely the trend" “Merz said."We have not implemented the essential reforms in the last 30 years".Pressed to see if citizens could end up with little disposable income, Merz replied:
“From today’s perspective, these fears are surely not unfounded.
But it will be our occupation to resolve these concerns and do what is right for people to say at the end of this election term:
We are in a better position than at the beginning."According to Merz, the coalition agreement between his chadeks (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) includes a decision to keep a pension warrant – which ensures that a citizen's pension cannot fall below a fixed threshold – by 2031.
However, Merz signaled that the coalition would search to implement wellness and long-term care reforms in the coming years, which would likely lead to higher costs for households.Meanwhile, Merz confirmed that the CDU/CSU and SPD had not yet reached an agreement on the worker taxation relief package, but noted that the coalition had undertaken to reduce corporate taxes.When asked if his organization had met the promises made during the election run on "debt brake’, Merz confessed to the criticism.
While the CDU had previously advocated maintaining the constitutional regulation limiting government debt, after the election, the Merza block and SPD proposed a package of debt-funded expenditure of €1 trillion for defence and infrastructure investments.‘I realize that.
This [debt package] can only be justified if we combine it with the reforms we truly request in Germany.
And I think we wrote the right things in the coalition agreement" “He said.Merz is expected to be formally approved as Chancellor in the coming weeks, as negotiations are underway with the SPD to establish a coalition government.
His comments came erstwhile the fresh Ipsos poll showed public support for his CDU/CSU block of 24%, with the right-wing alternate for Germany (AfD) ahead of him by 1%.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/615724-merz-warns-germany-falling-income/
