"Social Democratic Party (SPD) co-leader and Labour Minister Barbel Bas has warned that "things will become unsettled" within the country's coalition government if parliament failed to pass a pension reform package in December. The crux of the issue is a guaranteed pension level of 48% of average income until 2031, which the SPD is standing firm on. Bas was quizzed at an economic conference in Berlin as to whether she foresaw any possible changes to the bill in its current form."
"Bas also rejected any possible amendments to the bill as it made its way through the parliamentary process, arguing that there had already been "firm agreement" with the conservative CDU/CSU bloc on six key elements of the pension package. "If anyone is jeopardizing the coalition, it is the CDU/CSU," she said, referring to senior coalition partners the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union."
A pension reform package guarantees a pension level of 48% of average income until 2031. The SPD insists on preserving that guarantee and rejects amendments during parliamentary processing. Six key elements of the package were described as having firm agreement with the conservative CDU/CSU bloc. Failure to secure parliamentary approval in December would result in no reform and could unsettle the governing coalition. Responsibility for jeopardizing the coalition was attributed to the CDU/CSU by SPD representatives. The chancellor insisted that a government collapse is out of the question and warned that changing parliamentary majorities would impede reasonable legislative work.
Read at www.dw.com
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