According to party leader sigmar gabriel, the federal SPD will follow this line adopted by the rough SPD state association of north rhine-westphalia over the weekend. "The decision in north rhine-westphalia has clarified the issue for the SPD," said gabriel after a meeting of the SPD executive committee in berlin. He is sure that this solution will be adopted at the small SPD party conference on 24 november. November with a majority of over 90 percent.
Contrary to the demands of the left of the party, the NRW SPD decided to stick to the current pension formula, at least for the time being. Instead, it was decided to "maintain the current level of security until the end of the decade" and to reassess in 2020. SPD chancellor candidate peer steinbruck can also live with this compromise.
This means that the current legal situation should not change for the time being. It envisions that pension levels could drop from the current 50.4 percent to 46 percent of an average wage by 2020 and 43 percent by 2030. It was only when this safety level fell below that the legislature had to intervene.
Gabriel sees good chances of maintaining pension levels even at the current level. He pointed out that the federal government’s pension report for 2020 assumes a level of just under 48 percent. In order to reconcile the burdens on the younger generation with the need to secure the livelihoods of the older generation, corrections in the area of gainful employment, such as a minimum wage or the fight against precarious employment, are necessary.
The party leader pointed out that the SPD is planning further steps in its pension concept. These included a minimum pension of 850 euros per month for those who had been insured for many years, improvements in the pension for reduced earning capacity, and the possibility of retiring without deductions after 45 years of insurance, regardless of age.
According to his statements, the pension commission under the leadership of north rhine-westphalia’s minister president hannelore kraft will discuss the financial effects of the SPD’s concept in another meeting.
The right-wing wing of the party spoke out against freezing the pension level at today’s level. Such a reduction would have to be financed either from taxes or by increasing contributions, said the spokesman for the conservative "seeheimer kreis," johannes kahrs, on SWR radio. It would be smarter to ensure higher wages. In this way the people themselves could keep the pension level stable. "The other thing is the emergency brake," said kahrs. Over the weekend, the left-wing majority of berlin’s social democratic party (SPD) spoke out in favor of permanently fixing the pension level at 50.4 percent.