Young German conservatives including the grandson of former chancellor Helmut Kohl have rebelled against the government’s pension bill, compounding Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s legislative woes.
A group of 18 younger MPs from Merz’s Christian Democratic (CDU/CSU) bloc have in recent weeks threatened to block pension measures approved by the coalition cabinet, arguing that the plan places an excessive financial burden on future generations. The faction is large enough to deprive Merz of his 12-seat majority in the 630-seat assembly.
The threat highlights frictions within Merz’s coalition — including his own party — as he seeks to reform Germany’s expensive welfare state.
Merz has portrayed his government as the political centre’s last chance to revive Europe’s largest economy and curtail the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which won more than a fifth of seats in February elections.
But widening divisions among coalition MPs have led to a string of disputes and heightened legislative uncertainty. A Forsa poll this week found that three-quarters of Germans are dissatisfied with the coalition.
Peter Matuschek, chief of the polling institute, said he could not recall an instance in recent decades where a youth wing of any party had wielded such influence over the legislative process.
“The majority is so tight for the governing parties that there is greater risk that small groups join forces to press their own demands and potentially block projects,” he said. Matuschek added that the row risked deepening negative perceptions of the coalition’s ability to drive through reforms.
One young conservative challenging the pension bill is Kohl’s 28-year-old grandson Johannes Volkmann, who entered parliament in May for the western Lahn‑Dill constituency, near Frankfurt.
Johannes Volkmann is part of a group of young CDU/CSU hawks pushing for a return to more economically liberal and socially conservative values © IMAGO/dts Nachrichtenagentur via Reuters Connect
Volkmann and his allies argue that the bill, designed to guarantee statutory pensions at 48 per cent of previous income until 2031, goes beyond the coalition agreement, with additional costs of €10bn to €15bn a year after 2031. A concession made by Merz to his Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners, the guarantee overrides older rules that allow the rate to fall to contain rising costs of an ageing population.
“It’s a core generational issue,” Volkmann told the Financial Times. “Most in our caucus support what we are saying.”
He noted that Merz was sympathetic to their arguments: “He said that he was taking our concerns very seriously and that these things have to be addressed in parliamentary negotiations.”
The chancellor acknowledged that the young MPs “had a point” and pledged to discuss the matter with the SPD. But the Social Democrats have signalled no appetite to amend the bill presented by party co-leader and labour minister Bärbel Bas.
A clash over this pension guarantee could endanger a broader compromise covering measures including incentives for retirees to keep working and expand private pensions and a bonus for older mothers — three CDU/CSU demands.
Jens Südekum, a Düsseldorf university economist who advises SPD vice-chancellor and finance minister Lars Klingbeil, called the debate a “political manoeuvre”.
“They have a point that costs will start rising in the mid-2030s. But there’s time to resolve the issue,” said Südekum, given that a commission is due next year to present proposals for an overhaul of the pension system. Any government could also revisit the policy once the coalition’s term ends in 2029.
Volkmann belongs to a new parliamentary cohort of young CDU/CSU hawks pushing for a return to more economically liberal and socially conservative values after what they see as a centrist drift under former party chief Angela Merkel, Merz’s longtime rival.
In July, a vote to appoint three supreme court judges was scrapped at the last minute after a CDU/CSU revolt. One nominee had expressed views seen as too liberal on abortion. The young conservatives took part in the rebellion, Volkmann said.
The Junge Union — open to CDU/CSU members under 35 — has served as a breeding ground for future chancellors or party heavyweights. Alumni include Kohl, Merz and his mentor, former finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble.
The cabinet’s approval of the pension plan was “a failure of oversight,” Volkmann said — though he declined to assign any blame.
The young politician praised the chancellor for his stance on defence and EU policy and for relaxing the debt brake to fund Germany’s rearmament.
Merz, he says, embodies a return of the “Bonn Republic” values cherished by Kohl and postwar chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
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“The entire Merz manifesto runs on our core beliefs: a more Conservative migration policy, a muscular foreign policy and defence policy,” he said. “There’s very little disagreement between us and the platform of our mother party. It wasn’t always the case. The late Merkel years were very different. But now, in many ways, the platform of Junge Union has become the platform of Merz’s CDU.”
Asked about following into his grandfather’s foot steps, Volkmann, who holds a master’s degree on contemporary Chinese studies from Oxford university, says he does not see himself as “special” but feels compelled to engage politically at a time of “rising global systemic rivalries”.
“There are many of his political values that I share — in particular when it comes to resilience of the political west, his commitment to Europe, that we need to act from a position of strength,” he said. “He was chancellor during the decision to re-arm in the 1980s in response to Soviet missiles.”