Almost indissoluble seemed the dispute in which the governing parties had become involved in recent months. Now, however, the leaders of the Grand Coalition have agreed on a compromise on the basic pension: From January 2021, many long-term insured persons, who nevertheless receive only a small pension, will be awarded a contract.
Between 1.2 and 1.5 million people with very low pensions should benefit from it, the SPD and the Union estimate. Cost is the new basic pension one to 1.5 billion euros a year - the exact price you will only know when it is clear exactly how many people have a claim, said CDU chief Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
So that's what the new basic pension should look like:
- Prerequisite: Grundrente should only receive those who have accumulated at least 35 years of contributions - however, this should not be as hard a limit as in the previous plans: A "short, effective glide zone " should be introduced. This means that insured persons with less than 35 years of contribution will also receive the basic pension, but with discounts. So far, however, it is still unclear how high these discounts will be and on how many years of contributions the sliding zone will begin.
- Income limit : A single gets the basic pension, only if his taxable income is less than 1250 Euro per month . If a pensioner lives in a partnership , the common income must not exceed 1950 euros . However, this should not be hard limits - also here a glide zone is planned. It is also unclear here how high the discounts will be at a slightly higher income and from which limit there will be no land rent at all.
- The calculation : It follows, in principle, the proposal of Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) from February: Get the basic pension, who has paid less than 80 percent contributions than an average earner, but more than 30 percent. For this group of people, the pension benefit is doubled - however, at most to 80 percent of the average performance and a maximum of 35 contribution years. But this surcharge will then be cut by 12.5 percent - that did not provide salvation concept before and is a concession of the SPD in the negotiations with the Union.
- Without application and automatically : The basic pension is calculated and paid by the pension insurance . The takes over the income test - and should get the data automatically from the tax offices. This means that those affected do not have to actively apply for the basic pension. They already indicate their income in the tax return, if this is so high that they are taxable.
- Relapse solution for expensive cities : Because the living lots in Germany are very different, especially because of the rent from place to place, it may be that some retirees even with the basic pension still rely on the basic pension in old age - almost the Hartz IV for pensioners.
For those affected a free allowance in the basic security is introduced: the first 100 euros of their pension they can keep full, of every additional euro of their pension 30 cents. At most, they can keep their pension up to half of the standard rate - currently this is € 212 a month.
In addition, there is an allowance for Grundrentner housing subsidies , so they are not immediately deducted in this social benefit, what they have received by the basic pension. This, too, mainly serves basic pensions in cities with high rents.
The pension expert of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Gert Wagner, who is also one of the three scientists in the pensions commission of the Federal Government, praises the agreement: "For me personally, this is not a compromise, but a clever solution," said Wagner. This would on the one hand appreciated the lifetime achievement, but on the other hand "also takes into account in which income circumstances someone lives, without the bureaucracy is exaggerated". It is particularly important that in the lower income sector no longer stubbornly adhering to the principle of equivalence of pension insurance - so that the payments always correspond to the amount of the deposits. In this respect, the compromise "is indeed a socio-political milestone," says Wagner.
Difficult starting position
The way was difficult. When the party leaders of the CDU, CSU and SPD presented their compromise on Sunday afternoon, they were demonstratively relieved. "The cow is off the ice," said CSU boss Markus Söder, and SPD interim boss Malu Dreyer stressed how much both sides had moved. In fact, the coalition partners have found it increasingly difficult in recent months to move away from their basically incompatible conditions without losing face.
More on SPIEGEL +
The SPD insisted that long-term insureds with low pensions should receive the basic pension without means test - regardless of how high the other income and fortune is otherwise that they or their life partner have. The pensioners should be spared from the unpleasant total control, as it is known from the existing basic security in old age - so before to have to provide complete and repeatedly account statements, leases or energy bills and their assets have to use up to a few thousand euros. Accordingly, Minister of Labor Heil completely renounced his proposal in February on an exam.
The Union, on the other hand, insisted on a means test and referred to possible cases in which people without the test would receive hundreds of euros in bonuses, which receive only a small pension, but really do not need more money - such as the already proverbial dentist's wife or even the owner of several properties with high rental income. So a lot of money would be distributed with the watering can, without specifically targeting old age poverty. CSU national group chief Alexander Dobrindt coined the word of the "Hubertus Heil confetti cannon". Above all, the economic wing of the Union was until recently on a similar strict examination of income and assets as in the basic security in old age - almost the Hartz IV for pensioners.
But the estimated costs show the big difference between the two approaches: If only the currently 130,000 long-term insured receive a premium that already prove their need, because they relate to basic benefits in old age, the costs would be according to expert estimates at around 200 million euros a year , Heil expects his concept without any examination, however, initially 3.8 billion euros annually, but would quickly rise to just under five billion. According to this, more than three million pensioners would have benefited.
The compromise is now in numerical terms with costs of up to 1.5 billion euros and 1.2 to 1.5 million basic pension recipients slightly below the middle. The basic pension is to be financed exclusively from tax revenue and not from the pension contributions.
Practical problems
In the workers' wing of the Union, the agreement meets with approval. "A success is that the income test all types of income are recorded," said the labor and social policy spokesman for the Union faction, Peter White, the SPIEGEL. The compromise paper now explicitly mentions that the income to be audited also includes "capital gains".
Weiss also referred to further measures , which the coalition leaders have now agreed on in the package with the basic pension: "It is gratifying to increase the company pension for low-paid workers." The agreements on improvements in occupational pensions are likely to help many members of the Union to agree to the package as a whole, said Weiß.
In the future, the subsidy for occupational pensions will be increased from a maximum of € 144 to € 288 per year. The employer receives this government subsidy if he grants his employees a company pension in a certain amount.
In addition, the coalition has provided a small solution to the long-simmering debate over the so-called double-contribution of occupational pensions in its paper on basic pensions. The costs of 1.2 billion per year are to be financed by means of the statutory health insurance. Employee equity investments should also be more attractive.
However, it is questionable whether the introduction of the basic pension will be really smooth despite the political agreement - for purely practical reasons. Finally, the pension insurance should check the income of pensioners "automatically and citizen-friendly", as the coalition promises. But the necessary data exchange with the tax authorities must first be established. And because the pension insurance does not undertake any review of their personal circumstances, they would have to employ thousands of employees, she warned in advance.
There is not much time to solve these problems: the basic pension is to be paid out within 14 months.
