Key German big-business lobbyist urges major pension reforms

Germany's influential Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) business lobby called for gradually raising the country's retirement age, less than two weeks ahead of nationwide elections.

The pension age should be linked to life expectancy, BDA President Rainer Dulger told dpa on Thursday. The pension system needs stable revenue from worker contributions, which is "why we need to make the retirement age more dynamic."

"I don't want a discussion about whether it should now be X, Y or Z years until retirement. We should seriously consider linking the pension to average life expectancy," he said, urging a "broad debate" on the issue.

"In the election manifestos and in the election campaign, the social security systems are being neglected," Dulger said.

The big business lobby has previously provoked strong reactions in the past with similar demands.

Under current German law, the retirement age for the standard old-age pension will be gradually raised to 67 without deductions by 2031.

From 2024, the age limit will be raised in two-month increments, starting with those born in 1959. The standard retirement age of 67 will then apply to insured persons born in 1964 or later.

Dulger was promptly criticized by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and politicians from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), which is closely linked to the labour movement.

"If these are seriously supposed to be the employers' big ideas for a sustainable Germany, then the prospects would be bleak," said Anja Piel, a DGB board member.

Anyone who wants to raise the retirement age is in effect cutting pensions, she added, "and that always hits those who have worked hard for many years the hardest."