Stable pension in Germany? Court of Auditors warns of a “rude awakening”

The amount of the pension in Germany should remain stable over the long term. But for the federal government, this corresponds to “considerable budgetary risks”, fears the Court of Auditors. The opposition is alarmed.

Of the Bundesrechnungshof warns of greater financial risks for the federal government if the pension level is to be maintained. Currently it is Pension system designed in such a way that, in the future, federal funds will continue to rise automatically Pension insurance flow, it says in a report from the authority to the Bundestag, which is available to the German Press Agency. “This harbors considerable budgetary risks for the federal government.”

These risks were compounded by the “double stop line” for the pension level and the Pension contributions. If both stop lines work, in future “only the federal government will finance the additional expenditure of the statutory pension insurance with funds from taxpayers,” writes the Court of Auditors. Currently, more than 100 billion euros a year are earmarked for pensions in the federal budget.

The pension is facing problems because fewer and fewer contributors come for more and more retirees. The Bundestag has decided on a pension package for the period up to 2025. It fixes the pension level – i.e. the ratio of a standard pension after 45 years of contribution to wages – at at least 48 percent. Until then, the contribution rate should not exceed the 20 percent mark. It is now 18.6 percent.

FDP expert: Foreseeable there will be a “rude awakening”

FDP budget expert Otto Fricke criticized the Court of Auditors report: “Follow this Pension policy of the Union and the SPD will be a rude awakening in the foreseeable future and the trust of pensioners in solid pension policy will be destroyed again. “

A government commission has made proposals for the period after 2025. She recommends reforms, but no fundamental restructuring, for example with a higher retirement age. Minister of Social Affairs Hubertus Heil (SPD) announced its own proposals by autumn.

– .