German coalition agrees on changes to pensions, tax rates
Key takeaways
- After its first year in office, Germany's coalition government plans to push through sweeping changes with the stated goal of reviving a sluggish economy.
- The announcement came at a press conference on Thursday, with Merz standing alongside SPD leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, as well as the leader of Bavaria's conservative CSU, Markus Söder.
- Measures include €10 billion ($11.4 billion) in income tax relief, the end of phone-based sick notes and the implementation of pension commission proposals by the end of 2026.
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After its first year in office, Germany's coalition government plans to push through sweeping changes with the stated goal of reviving a sluggish economy. The plans met with a mixed reaction.
https://p.dw.com/p/5GSj NAfter a long night of talks, the coalition leaders returned to the Chancellery to present their proposed reforms Image: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance Advertisement Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said his conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) had approved a "catalog of significant reforms" to "modernize" the economy and restore competitiveness.
The announcement came at a press conference on Thursday, with Merz standing alongside SPD leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, as well as the leader of Bavaria's conservative CSU, Markus Söder. The four coalition leaders had met in Berlin the previous day to hammer out the final details of their package.